A/N: PRUDENCE. You'll have to forgive my delays, and they'll probably persist for some time now... My parents brought a new puppy home and since I can't afford to move out, I have to help train the terror. They also bought a pool table, and billiards is my game. :3 PRUDENCE: The skill or good judgment in the use of resources; Caution or circumspection as to danger or risk.
Arhani "Hanny" Daforcena: Yes, trust Ghost to make it all better. It's his job, after all, to make sure Soap keeps it together. ;D
ItestedGarus'Reach: I wanted to do Air Force when I was a kid. I wanted to be a fighter pilot. That dream just kinda didn't stick with me when I grew up. D: I'm glad I made your night and it's nice to see I'm somehow keeping you sane, despite being more than a little crazy myself. XD
Leen141: Their line of work definitely makes them question what they're doing. It's bound to happen eventually. And when someone is watching your back for you, helping you with everything, you learn to trust them, to go to them for more than just work. Glad the update was everything you'd hoped for. :)
xGhostxStealth: To be honest, those are the kinds of questions I think everyone asks themselves at one point or another. "Is this really right" and all. Unfortunately, those kinds of questions can really make you "lose touch", get really wrapped up in them. And I like to think that Ghost is there to kinda slap him around a bit and tell him to stop moping. XD
WillowRavenBloodstone: I used to have a solid updating schedule. Like three years ago when I only had one open fandom and a ton of free time. XD I'm glad you're enjoying the fics, and, to be honest, as long as I have a brother or friend in the military, I'll have plenty of inspiration. And did I mention it looks like the ones that are in/entering are going to make the military a career? Yeah. We've deffo got some time. :P
Reeserella: I think the quiet ones are the best ones. Because not only is there not the pressure of the press, you don't have to worry about shitty public opinion and all that, you know? :)
xStealthxSniperx: Nothing wrong with the review being short, love. And my memory is steadily going to shit, too, so no worries on that count. X3 I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter.
PhonyPrincess: :D You're back! Cute moments are just as necessary as the smutty moments. That balance is always necessary. ;D
There are many qualities a good leader must possess, and for various reasons as well. Anyone can carelessly drop themselves into the lap of power and arbitrarily toss out orders for the subservient masses to obey, but only to a minor and typically ineffective extent. Beyond just having the trust of whomever you were to be commanding, you also need a basic understanding of human psychology, an intimate knowledge of your field, and a certain level of prudence, especially if your line of work was a dangerous one.
It was his calm that really let everything else show up so well, Ghost told himself. John was always so calm during a conversation, a personification of "frosty", never ruffled enough to make a mistake from a hasty or illogical response. He had the right mentality for their line of work, and he was well aware of the fact. The truth was, far too many people had gotten their teams killed for little more than nothing and general stupidity. Soap was determined to ensure that never happened to his team. If it was something that could be avoided, it was. He calculated everything, left nothing to chance. He would sleep in fits and spurts for the weeks leading up to a mission, pouring over reports, calling contacts, calculating odds and double-checking timing... No one could ever claim negligence on his part for anything. The man had contingency plans for the impossible and was always waiting for something unforeseen to happen, just so he wouldn't be caught off guard.
A particularly messy mission involved recovering an HVI from a drug cartel in Colombia. The man was supposed to have been in his home, surrounded and protected, not causing issues half the world away. Their job was to get him out as quietly as possible, and back home before the press found he was missing. The first half of the mission had gone well, but the man had apparently decided he was in love with the cartel's daughter and refused to leave the country without her. The girl similarly threatened to raise the alarm if she wasn't taken as well. Ghost very clearly remembered demanding to know how in the fuck they were supposed to sneak two useless civilians out of what would rapidly become a war zone if they didn't move quickly. MacTavish only muttered under his breath and ordered the both of them to follow him, and to question nothing until they were safe. He had apparently spoken to a few men who were very well-advised on the happenings of the compound and had warned the Captain about the involvement of their target and another. He had planned a separate, more secretive (albeit longer) route, just in case the reports had been true. Granted, things had not blown over quietly, and more than one foot soldier had recognized the cartel's daughter and attempted to "save" her from a "kidnapping". Simon asked how he'd known to research a second path with more cover, and Soap had just laughed and said, "It's my job."
Even when things went a thousand times worse than what was expected, he retained his calm, planned everything out, ensure supplies and ammunition were rationed appropriately so they could make it out in better shape than could be expected from anyone else in their situation. Every time someone brought his prudence, calm, and foresight up, he would simply smile and remind them that it was his job. There were other special operations forces with Commanding Officers holding just as many commendations as MacTavish, just as much experience, and a casualty rate much, much higher.
"Risk is something that we have to face every day, just because it's our job. But it doesn't mean we should go out of our way to get ourselves killed. It's impossible to avoid danger completely, but that doesn't mean I won't do everything I can to avoid the worst of it if I can."
It was something he prided himself in, being able to plan things out and ensure the safety of his men in that way, though that same attribute generally made it difficult for him to deal with CO's of other units. He would meet with men who bragged about their kill counts and the number of countries they'd seen and how quickly they'd finished their missions and gotten back home to get wasted and do more drugs than one system should be able to handle. John would quietly ask them what their turnover rate was, how many men under their command were killed or discharged for medical or psychological reasons. These other COs would always react the same way; they would become angry, indignant men, men who would scream and call him a coward, ask what his body count was, ask how long his missions took. Soap would give them all the details he was allowed to, and he would watch as the information sank in, watch as these men would realize that John was more successful than they were, and by using "pussy tactics" and by keeping himself up at night to "go on fuckin' goose chases", and they would always storm way angry.
He soon got a reputation as someone who didn't play well with others, and that suited John just fine, as he hadn't yet met someone outside of his team willing to listen when he told them that they didn't have to kill everyone in the city to get their job done, and doing so would just waste ammunition, and they had no way of knowing what lay before them. He took it upon himself to search out every possible alternative route and study every footpath that they may come across. He would learn every aspect of their mission backwards and forwards, calculate the ammunition they would need, the time it should take, the safest routes in and out of the situation...
For every "why bother" he was presented with, he had an instance that his prudence saved the lives of the men on his team. Some casualties were simply inevitable, unavoidable, and no amount of prudence or foresight could change their occurrence, but those were the only casualties he would tolerate. Simon accepted that during the days leading up to a mission, his time with his lover would be a little limited for these reasons. He knew that he just needed to be patient and let Soap exercise his prudence. He knew that he could sacrifice those few days so he could live to see many more of them in the future.