Thanks, WheresDaBeef, CaptianHall, and Xterminator, for the awesome review! I can't believe all the support this is getting so early on! Hope this chapter answers for the 'Mary Sue' thing. With what I'm planning, it'll either be this chapter or the next one that puts things right with the flaws. I completely forgot about Cliffhanger so we'll just have to skip it, don't know how I forgot, it was one of my favorites… Anyway! Keep up with the reviews everyone! I love seeing them!
Thanks for Reading, Fly High Aim Higher
~Spitfire out
*Roach's POV*
About a month later and I knew the area and everyone on the team. Dash caught my eye though. She was different. She acted a bit like Ghost but she didn't wear a mask and her accent was different, Ghost was the only one with a southern one. I planned on asking Dash to a nearby bar but I didn't know how to ask her.
I thought of asking Meat but I knew he'd just make a joke out of it. Toad didn't seem like he'd know. Royce, I thought I might ask him but thought better of it and decided I'd figure it out myself. Scarecrow and Ozone were shady and I'd rather avoid them.
I'd have to worry about that later though; I had to work on getting back into shape after being off my feet because of the fall. I was running the pit. The best time had been set by Ghost at thirteen seconds flat; Dash was in close second with thirteen point one seconds. I could imagine she was none too happy about that. My record so far was twenty seconds. I hadn't been able to break it by the time I was done, so I went back to the barracks.
*Ghost's POV*
I was walking by Dash's room when I heard music and singing.
"Now the dark begins to rise, save your breath, it's far from over. Leave the lost and dead behind, now's your chance to run for cover," it sounded like Dash, it was a song by an American band called Breaking Benjamin, "I don't want to change the world, I just want to leave it colder. Light the fuse and burn it up, take the path that leads to nowhere. This is where forever dies. All is lost again, but I'm not giving in! I will not bow, I will not break, I will shut the world away. I will not fall, I will not fade, I will take your breath away," she sang, fading out on the last line and humming the tune of the song.
She sang it as if it were about her own life, the voice she used was amazing, hell it was intoxicating. I was so stunned by the voice that I lost track of time, waiting to hear her start with the words again but she didn't, I only heard her fist connecting with a training dummy and her humming.
I stepped in quietly and was a bit shocked at what I saw. Dash was wearing a black training top and yoga pants, but what shocked me was the dried blood covering her right shoulder. I saw her flinch when she went for a right hook and switched to a left instead. She was right handed so it would be weird if there wasn't a bullet in her shoulder.
"Dash?" I said, getting her attention.
"What is it?" she asked as she forced a right jab.
"You're bleeding," I pointed out.
"I know."
"You gonna do something about it?" I asked.
"I'm fine," she answered stubbornly; "it's nothing."
"It doesn't look like 'nothing'," I said pointedly, "it's slowing you down, you're not making many hits with your strong side," I added.
"I've been through worse, this isn't important," she said with a butterfly kick that sent the dummy to the ground five feet away.
'Mental note: never piss her off,' I thought to myself, staring at the dummy as she picked it up. I rolled my eyes when she started beating the dummy again. After a little while of watching I left to find Archer, I wasn't about to let her go into combat with a bum shoulder.
I found the sniper in the mess, "Hey, Archer, Dash has a bullet in her shoulder," I said simply, "she won't admit that it's bothering her either."
"How do you know that it is?" he asked.
"One, common sense. Two, she was beating a training dummy but avoided using her right side, which is her strong side," I answered, "It might still be bleeding, there was dried blood all over her shoulder," I said, leaving to find MacTavish since I knew he wanted to see me in the briefing room.
*Dash's POV*
'Damn it!' I cursed myself, how could I leave myself so open like that? Now he was going to find Archer and I was going to be out. If I'm out, I'm not working, if I'm not working, I'm wasting time. I groaned in aggravation and slid on a short sleeve t-shirt that covered my shoulder wound. I washed the dried blood off and wrapped the injury myself so that if it was still bleeding it'd be harder to notice.
I went to the track and started running, I couldn't stop thinking about Allen and how his sister would be reacting to the news of his death. I stopped running and fell to my knees, it was hard to believe he was gone, we'd known each other for most of both of our military careers. I sighed and got to my feet, looking around a bit before my eyes settled on a tall pine tree. I climbed up the strong branches and sat about a third the way up, I was still high enough not to be seen. The sun was setting now and I couldn't stop the tears as I thought about Joseph.
It seemed like hours before I could get my tears under control and stop crying. The sky was black and the moon was up, it was full and the stars were spaced away from it, it was a beautiful sight, one that Allen would've liked. Come to think of it, Ghost would like it too, he was so mysterious, the way the clouds formed over the moon reminded me of him and I smiled a bit before climbing back down. It was getting cold out. Well, maybe not, I was really cold-natured; I was always cold.
I saw Ghost walking towards me, Archer followed him. 'Great' I though sarcastically.
"Let me see your shoulder, Dash," Archer said.
"It was a through and through, Archer, it's nothing to worry about," I said, not wanting to be out of action at all.
"Right," he said sarcastically, "Give me a right hook then."
I did but there was still a sharp pain where the bullet had struck me. Archer seemed to be thinking for a bit before he nodded.
"Okay, should only bother you a few more days," Archer said simply and left me and Ghost alone.
He was staring right at me, I could tell even with those glasses and the mask. So mysterious.
"We move out in two hours, we've got an assignment," Ghost said before walking away.
That voice, I melted every time I heard it. I could tell that he hesitated when he walked away. I bit my lip and went to the armory to gear up so I would be ready. I couldn't tear my thoughts away from Ghost, his shadowy personality and that sexy accent of his.
Two hours later we boarded a sub and were off to our next assignment.
