A/N: Oh my gosh, thanks so much to all the reviews! ;_; I wasn't expecting such feedback, honestly. I'm really flattered that you're all enjoying this. I'll put as much effort as I can to make it the ultimate fangirl guilty pleasure, lol. Just promise me one thing: immerse yourself into the story to truly feel the excitement xD
This is longer than the last, stretching about 4,000 words, which is 1000 words more than my average. Excuse any mistakes that I may have left out in this draft.
Enjoy!
By the time you've returned to your room after lunch, it's already half-past three. You can't help but feel as though there's something off about you being there, but you can't quite put your finger on it. With a sigh, you check your cellphone and find no new messages or missed calls. That's strange, since you expect Seraph would have tried to contact you by now.
You turn off the screen of your phone and stuff it into your pocket, along with the earphones.
"Target practise with Archer and Toad is at five," you remind yourself. "Roach invited me to the recreation room to play some games with him and the rest…"
You exit your room and begin walking along the path towards the recreation room, as shown to you by Soap earlier that day. The numerous doors you pass by on your way make you wonder whether they lead to the members' bedrooms. As you turn left, you bump into Roach.
"So you've decided to play some Xbox with us, I presume," Roach flashes you a lopsided smirk. "I just came out from there. Royce and Ghost are playing a fighting game and everybody's betting on who's gonna win."
"It'll take a while before I get my turn, I guess," you giggle slightly, before giving him a questioning glance. "Where are you going?"
Roach hesitates, before answering with a quaver of uncertainty. "I'm gonna go invite Captain MacTavish." Then, he adds in with a firmer tone. "He always stays holed up in his office whenever there's too much paperwork to do."
You arch an eyebrow. "Invite him? Won't that be a challenge? You said yourself there's a lot of work for him to get done."
"I-I'll think of a way, somehow," Roach stammers, a smile threatening to crack on his face. It does not go pass your notice that his cheeks hint traces of pink. "Besides, he's easy to persuade."
"Oh, I see," you nod, slightly curious as to why he paused before replying to you. You shrug the inquisitiveness off. "Alright, go on. I'll see you and So—erm, the captain, later."
Roach passes you and walks down the hallway you came from. He is unaware that your gaze follows him as he stops at one of the doors in the passageway. However, he pauses at the said door and glances, almost furtively, in your direction. From his facial expression and body language, you get a feeling that he's disturbed that you're still there.
You force a few steps after he throws a quick, guilty glance your direction for a second time. However, instead of walking away completely, you stop once you disappear at the left turn and lean against the wall. Roach's behaviour is way too suspicous. You aren't going to let this slip past your fingers.
A few seconds after you turned and hid, a creaking sound ensues. Two voices are faintly audible to hearing, and a soft thump follows soon after, signifying the close of a door. Taking a deep breath, you gather the courage to take a peek into the hallway and, to your surprise, learn that Roach is missing.
'He must have entered Soap's office already…' you think to yourself, biting your bottom lip. 'No knocks, no calling out…it's as though he just walked into the room without notifying Soap of his arrival..."
You narrow your eyes in suspicion. A sergeant wouldn't do that to the captain of a task force, would he? He'd knock, at least.
On an impulse, you sprint back down the hallway, your footsteps making no sound as they swiftly brought you to the door which Roach disappeared through. You stand in front of it, unsure of what the hell you're doing, but before you can question the risks of getting caught for eavesdropping, a tired-sounding sigh reaches your ears from inside the room.
"You know I have a lot of work, Roach."
"Which is exactly why you should join us," Roach argues good-naturedly, a chuckle following his sentence. "I think everybody will enjoy having you there."
There's some silence, before Soap answers quietly. "It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I can't. You know how daft and slow I am to filling out these bloody reports; how much time I take to get them done. They're due in two days, and I've barely gone through a quarter of it."
"Spend an hour with us, at least. Ask Ghost to help you with all this later."
Another sigh. "As tempting as your invitation is, I'd rather not, mate. Sorry."
"Come on! It'll be fun!" Roach chirps, still not willing to give in. You stifle a chuckle at the cheeriness in his voice.
Another tense moment of silence. You figure Soap must have shook his head, for Roach urges, "It'll be really entertaining to play video games with them, trust me. Geez, what do I have to do to get your arse out of here?"
A screech, similar to when one pushes a chair back from a desk, is heard. Then, footsteps.
You sense movement in the room, but you can't really hear anything. Then, about ten seconds later, you hear Soap's voice. This time, however, it's low and seductive.
"Nice selection of words, Roach," Soap says, "Hmm…I know a number of things you can do to get my arse out of this cramped up office, and they're much more entertainingthan sitting in front of a gaming console…"
Your breath hitches and eyes widen. Did you just hear that correctly?
"Oh, really?" Roach's voice is cheeky, as though he's playing along. "What's that?"
"You know for yourself, Gary," Soap chuckles.
Gary? What?
As a million thoughts run through your head at the same time, a muffled moan comes from the room. Your eyes snap from the floor to the door and your face flushes red.
"Umphh—not now, John."
Your hand flies to your face and clamps your mouth as you fight back a gasp. John? John? Did Roach just refer to his captain by his first name?
"I'll go with you, if you promise me two things," Soap mutters, "First…you, me, my bedroom, tonight. Second, let's spend a few minutes here…"
You hear movement again. "John, I said not now. The others don't know that I've gone to invite you to the recreation room, other than the Private. They think I went to get a snack. They'll suspect if I take too long."
Every part of your body wouldn't budge, despite the scream in your mind to turn and leave before the door suddenly opens. However, when another stifled moan reaches your ears, a small cry of excitement gets caught in your throat as you force yourself to move. That's it—time to go. You've heard enough for the day!
As you speed-walk silently to the recreation room, a grin subconsciously plays across your face as the conversation from earlier replays in your mind. There's something going on between Roach and Soap, and the thought of it just makes you want to scream with excitement and bury your face in a pillow.
By the time you reach the open arch leading to your destination, a loud uproar comes from inside, mixed with incoherent curses. A soft smile replaces your stupid grin as you enter the room and find some people seated in front of the Xbox 360 gaming console and TV. Ghost and Royce were holding the controllers, whereas Scarecrow, Meat and Ozone were either laughing or cursing.
"Hey, Private," Royce greets you with a self-satisfied grin.
"What's all this commotion about?" you ask.
"Bloody wanker beat me in Tekken!" Ghost suddenly replies, his voice vehement. He was obviously frustrated that he lost. Luckily, his balaclava hides his expression.
Your eyes wander to the screen. Both men used female characters in their battle. The thought rather unsettles you, but the whole situation itself is hilarious. "So, who bet for Royce and who bet for Ghost?"
"Ozone put money on me," Royce answers. "Meat and Scarecrow placed their bets on Ghost."
"The controls are bloody confusing," Ghost suddenly remarks, rather pathetically, causing both you and Royce to laugh. The excuse is hilarious.
"Meat and Ozone are playing the next turn." Royce patted on the space between him and Ghost on the three-seat sofa. "You can sit here, Private. I bet Meat would like that, wouldn't he?"
You smile and take your place in the middle as Royce and Ghost stand up to give space for Meat and Ozone. Ghost remains standing whereas Royce sits at Meat's former place on the loveseat to the left. All of you settle down as the game flashes to the character selection menu.
"Where's Roach?" Ghost asks, looking around. Apparently, he was too absorbed in the earlier fight that he didn't notice the sergeant leave.
"He went to invite So—uh, Captain MacTavish to play Xbox with us," you reply, making a mental note to never say Soap aloud. Urgh, that's one thing you have to get used to.
"Really? I thought he said he was going to get some snacks," Scarecrow arches a brow.
"MacTavish, eh?" Ghost repeats, his tone low and doubtful. You can see behind his red-tinted glasses that he's narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "It's already been more than eight minutes since Roach left, hasn't it?"
Nobody replies, but as you blankly watch Ozone and Meat begin their virtual battle (still using female characters? What's up with that?), Ghost's words absorb into your brain. What he said is suggestive. It's as though he's got an inkling that something is going on between Roach and the captain.
Then, almost as if on cue, Roach and Soap walked into the recreation room. Ghost greets them with a small hum of acknowledgement.
Suddenly, Meat curses and your eyes snap back to the screen. Ozone beat Meat already? That was fast.
"Oh dude, you really suck," Ozone laughs, victorious.
"Alright, my turn," Roach grins, snatching the controller away from the frustrated Meat and pulling him out of his seat, before reclaiming the spot next to you as his own. Meat glares at Roach, but doesn't argue over the stolen spot and sits on the floor near Royce.
You stare at Roach, taking in his condition. A pink blush faintly tints his cheeks, his hair's messier than the last time you saw him only five minutes ago, his shirt has creases as though somebody had been pulling on them…and his lips…
"Your lips look swollen," you comment, lips twitching as you fight back a mischievous smile.
Roach looks at you, startled. The expression on his face is a mixture of embarrassment, surprise and hesitance. You watch, amused, as he comes up with a lame excuse.
"M-My lips have been dry lately," he says, tongue sliding out to moisten his already-damp bottom lip. To you, it looks as though somebody chewed on it. You have a good idea it was Soap. "I—uh—constantly lick them so they won't crack."
"Right," you nod, grinning slightly. "I'll give you my lip balm, then. Now, before you protest, lips balm isn't lip gloss—they don't colour your lips, they just keep them moist."
You furtively glance at Soap and Ghost, who are both (obviously) listening in on your conversation with Roach. A smirk falls upon your lips as you add, "There's cocunut-flavoured lip balm, but I also have strawberry."
You watch Soap's and Ghost's reactions. Ghost's blue eyes widen a bit underneath his glasses and he suddenly coughs, whereas Soap's cheeks absorb into a slight red. The inner side of you starts to laugh—their responses are better than you expected!
Roach just looks scandalized. You giggle, aware that Roach knew his superiors were listening and that you just embarrassed him.
'I bet they're just thinking of what it would be like to taste strawberry when they kiss you,' you think to yourself, cheekily looking at Roach in the eye.
"T-Thanks, but…seriously, Private?" Roach sputters, giving you a disbelieving look. You shrug and turn back to the screen, where it shows the character selection menu again. You hope you look innocent enough as to not reveal any hint that you know what's going on between Roach and Soap.
Roach waves off his mortification and selects a character to use in his turn against Ozone. To your confusion, both select female characters.
"What is up with you guys only choosing the girl fighters?" you ask, frowning.
"Oh, that's easy," Meat grins. "First, the girls don't have such fucked up confusing moves, so they're easier to control for us. Second is something nobody but me will admit—whenever the chicks fall or turn to dodge, their boobs jiggle!"
The whole room fell silent. Even the game pauses as Ozone and Roach slowly turn their heads. Everybody stares at Meat.
"What?" Meat asks innocently. Then, he points an accusing finger to all the men in the room. "Don't deny it, guys! We all know it's true!"
You can feel your face heat up and you wag your head, facepalming. The embarrassment leans more towards you, courtesy of being the only girl there.
"Even you two, Ghost and captain!" Meat blames.
"I've never played this game before," Soap counters, before looking at Ghost with a small grin. "Don't know about Ghost, though. Is it true, Riley?"
"Sod off, MacTavish," Ghost snaps, unintentionally giving himself away.
Soap laughs, and this just lightens the room and lifts the awkward feeling away. You can't help but smile, but it's more of a grimace mixed with a smile since you still feel rather humiliated. Roach and Ozone resume their battle and it's soon learned that what Meat said is true.
Roach wins this time. Everybody cheers for Soap to go against Ghost. At first, both are reluctant, but they give in after a few minutes. You gulp, a nervous feeling crowding your chest as the captain and lieutenant settle down on either side of you. Since the sofa was rather small, you kept your hands on your lap and pulled your legs until the knees and ankles touch, just so you won't end up having any physical contact with either of the high-ranked soldiers. You know that if their skin brushed against yours, you'd only end up embarrassed.
As they browsed through characters, Scarecrow suddenly looks your way and asks, "Hey, Private, can I ask you a question?"
"What?"
"Are you a virgin?"
You stare at him blankly, unable to register his blunt question. However, both Ghost and Soap turn to glare at Scarecrow.
"I thought I said no funny stuff," Ghost warns, his voice intimidating.
"It's just a question, sir," Scarecrow's grin takes away all the supposed innocence in his earlier inquiry.
"Just a question, my arse," Soap mutters, returning to the screen and finally selecting a character.
Relieved you're saved from answering the question, you look for something else to avoid awkward silence. Suddenly, as Soap locks in his character, you gasp and point at the screen. "Wait a minute! You picked a girl character, too!"
Soap permits a sly grin on his face as the other spectating men began to make a commotion about the fact. Ghost chuckles—one that sends tingles down your spine, especially with how pleasant it sounded when it hit your ears. And then he picks a female fighter as well.
You roll your eyes and sigh as the battle begins.
As you entered the section of the base for target practise, you suddenly hear Toad's laughter fill the empty atmosphere, filled with the chuckles of another person. You stop and listen, bewildered.
The chuckles sound reluctant and almost in agony. "C-Cut it out, Chris!"
You frown, unable to recognize the voice. However, the peculiar accent does remind you of somebody.
Then, Toad speaks. His voice is lower than before and sounds a bit too flirtatious for your standards. It also has a hint of mischief. "Aww, you know you like it, Ian! Come here~"
Toad laughs softly as sporadic chuckles ensue. Your mind puts together what's possibly going on, and you flush as all the puzzle pieces fall into place. Ian must be Archer. Hmm…quiet place, nobody's around, just him and Toad, cheeky laughter, suggestive lines…that could only mean one thing.
'Don't give away your position,' you remind yourself, biting your bottom lip as you choke back a squeal. Just a few more steps and you'd probably be where Toad and Archer are standing. Furtively, you take one step forward, hoping they won't hear you breathing, especially since they're on the sniper team; two of the most cautious and observant men in the task force.
"No, seriously! Chris!"
You stifle a laugh. Archer sounds hilarious!
You inhale deeply and step out, revealing yourself to the duo. Toad was bent over Archer, who was leaning away from his spotter with a mixed-emotions expression on his face, Toad's hands poking at Archer's torso. They both freeze at the sight of you, eyes wide with surprised expressions. Fighting back a sly, fangirl smile that will probably look as creepy as hell, you pull on the best innocent face you can make.
You take advantage of the brief moment of stunned silence. Toad's hands are definitely all over Archer's upper body, and Archer's cheeks still hold traces of pink.
Archer is handsome—even more so than you expected, with broad shoulders, a lean build, cool brown hair, slight bristle about his jaw, and sky-blue eyes. Luckily, the awkwardness of the situation is the only thing that prevents you from squealing at the sight of him. That doesn't stop your blush, though.
It's then you notice something odd. They don't look like they were doing you-know-what. Your mind rearranges the puzzle pieces, and as they come together into a newpicture of their situation, you say—awkwardly and slowly. "W-Wait…were you tickling him?"
Archer stands up straight, slightly embarrassed, and glares at Toad. Toad coughs and scratches the back of his head.
"You know what? You don't have to answer that," you wag your head with a small smile, suddenly feeling stupid and perverted for thinking dirty of what they were doing. "So…where do I sit?"
"Oh, yeah..." Toad looks around the area as Archer picks up two sniper rifles from a nearby table. You immediately recognize the weapons as the Intervention. "I guess you can sit behind us. You'll have a better view of what we do from there."
"Or, you can go prone with us," Archer suggests, a faint smirk on his face.
Toad seems uncomfortable with the idea, and you are, too (since you think sitting behind them would be an awesome chance to stare at their arses—), but before either of you can say anything in protest, Archer walks away to lead you to the shooting range.
Before long, you're already in a prone position between Archer and Toad, which is rather strange, especially since you're pinned between two hot guys, for God's sake. The feeling is similar to when you sat between Soap and Ghost.
…
Shit, can this day get any better?
Archer explains to you about how they play their roles as the sniper team. He clarifies about numerous things, talking steadily and professional in his cool, calm tone (not that you're actually listening to what he's saying—who can resist getting lost in that velvet-y voice?). Many times throughout his explanation, Toad pipes up to slip in a small remark, but either receives a glare or an interruption from Archer.
You feel pity for Toad, but then got lost in fascination as they take turns popping targets and shooting them down. Each shot is precise and scarily accurate, which isn't much of surprise since they're both snipers.
If there's one thing you notice, it's that Toad and Archer constantly make eye contact. You aren't sure whether they're sending mental messages to each other, like what they most probably do on actual mission, or whether they're mentally taunting each other. They exchange looks, smirks, glares—and, interestingly enough, Archer says something to you each time he finishes eye-contact with the spotter.
Forty-five minutes later, you decide to go back to your room. All three of you stand up and you smile gratefully at both of them.
"Thank you," you say, before excusing yourself.
As you walk towards the exit, you use the route which has a lot of racks and cabinets in the way, forcing a windy path to the large door. Also, it presents a lot of hiding places. You step behind a rack lined with dusty knick-knacks and items and listen intently. Fortunately, you can see both men from where you stood.
"Okay—what's up with you looking at me the whole time Private was here?" Toad asks Archer, pouting slightly.
Archer shrugs. "No particular reason."
Archer turns around to get back to training, but Toad holds his arm. You watch with growing anticipation as Toad narrows his green eyes as the Brit. "You seem fond of the Private," he says, voice soft and suspicious.
"She's pretty and intelligent," Archer smirks, shrugging again. You blush at the compliment, but your thoughts don't linger much on the remark, for you're more eager to see where the conversation is heading. "What's wrong, Chris? Are you jealous?"
A blush creeps up to Toad's cheeks. His embarrassed frown has an innocent extent to it, making him look irresistably adorable. He doesn't let go of his hold around Archer's forearm, and then you realize how cute they look together.
"Jealous? What makes you think I'm jealous?" Toad smirks, though his voice sounds nervous.
Archer chuckles. "You're obviously uncomfortable with the young lass, aren't you, Chris? I didn't pay any attention to you during the whole time she was here."
Toad's eyes widened, looking at his partner incredulously. "Are you telling me you did that all on purpose? Just to make me jealous?"
"Oh, do I hear you admitting it?" Archer teases, his smirk intimidating the American.
"You like her, don't you?"
Your heart is pounding against your chest. Not because of the question, it's because Archer grabs Toad's arm and leans toward him. You aren't sure whether you're hallucinating as a result from the excitement or anticipation, but Archer's lips meet with Toad's.
Toad looks startled from the sudden contact, but he closes his eyes and returns the kiss. Their lip contact is patient, slow and steady. At this point, you're almost sure your face is redder than a tomato and it's increasingly difficult to continue watching and stifle giggles at the same time. You also wonder whether you're going to get a nosebleed…
As Christian leans into his partner, the small groan from Archer sends a jittery feeling surging through your body. Suddenly, Archer pulls away. He doesn't move far, though, for his face is still only inches apart from Toad's. You hold back a squeal from the closeness, and it comes out as an aggravated exhale.
Archer smirks and carresses the American's cheek. "As much as I'd like to continue this," he whispers, the deadly silence of the room enabling you to hear him, "I don't think now is the right time."
"Why not?" Toad asks. His eyes are hooded and his damp lips glisten underneath the lighting.
"Because I think there's somebody here."
You get a heart attack when Archer suddenly looks in your direction. Instinctively, you lower your head, hoping the tiers of the racks will shield you. His cool chuckle becomes audible to your hearing, and you hear a small sucking sound similar to a full kiss on the lips.
"Let's get back to training, Chris."
Without any further ado, you stealthily slip out the exit.
A/N: And that, 'Private', is not the last you'll be seeing of Archer and Toad. Heh. xD
Oh, and kiernanhunter suggested about having one member defy my rule and flirt with the Private, and maybe even do something more serious *wink*. Hmm…I like the sound of it, actually. Which character should that be? Any options? I need your opinion for the ultimate guilty pleasure.
Anyway, thanks for reading. Leave a review!