Africa was beautiful and peaceful; everything was so natural from the trees to the animals to the ocean, their base in Africa had a view of the ocean and enough trees were blocking the area that they had all the privacy that they needed. As much as Ava adored privacy, she was still upset that they were forced to be in hiding due to what Shepherd caused. Even though he had a tough military mentality and he was considered one of the best, Shepherd treated Ava like she was less equal than everyone else because she was a female. Most people assured to her that he was worried about her safety, but Shepherd made blunt remarks about her being a woman could weaken this team. Sometimes she wished it was her who threw a knife in his forehead.

Ava walked around the base, watching the remaining members of the team do their own thing, she felt very fortunate to be working with them every single day. If she had to say one good thing about being on this team, everyone looked out for each other. Even when they lost a couple of members, they still managed to keep the bond strong and keep their eyes on the prize; finding Makarov and putting a bullet through his skull.

When she found herself walking up to Soap's room, she thought about how fortunate and lucky that she still is for having him alive today and not dead. Last week after seeing him so weak and fighting for his life really made her appreciate him a bit more. She knocked the door a couple of times and waited for his response.

"The door's open" She heard Soap's voice and she opened the door, he was sitting on the edge of his bed tying his shoelace. When he was finished, he looked up at Ava who was leaning against the door frame staring at him; he rolled his eyes and got up.

"What is it?" He asked, as he walked over to a small table and picked up a glass of water.

"You're supposed to remain in bed until your wound heals, and according to the doctor you still have at least 3 more weeks. But clearly in your case, you'd rather heal on your own terms." She smirked.

"Damn right, I'll heal on my own terms and since when do you care if I get proper care or not?" Soap said.

"I don't, I just don't want you collapsing out there because no one has the time to drag your arse to safety." Ava said and smiled when she heard Soap chuckle.

"Seriously Suriello, do you have anything useful to tell me or are you going to be a waste of my time?" He turned to her.

"No actually, I was on my way to train for a bit but I thought that I'd stop by and see how you were doing. Do you consider that useful or a waste of your time?" Ava smiled.

"I don't know I'll have to get back to you on that one. Who are you training with today?" Soap asked.

"Well, ever since Price cleared me from having you as a trainer, I was thinking about doing the usual stuff followed by running the pit." Ava said.

"Well, congratulations Suriello you caught me in a good mood, I'll conduct your training today since I was already on my way over there. Don't think I haven't noticed you slacking off for the past couple of days because I wasn't around as much as before. And you've been slower than usual lately, have you forgotten what I've told you? Speed is everything, without speed you'll be left behind." Soap grabbed a duffel bag and his keys.

"I never asked for your accompaniment, I can do this all by myself thank you very much. I was actually looking forward for training today." Ava looked him dead in the eyes.

"This is what you get for coming over here and getting under my skin, now I'll spend the next 5 hours getting under yours. And don't think I'll go easy on you this time. Let's go." Soap lightly pushed her out of the door and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Technically if I really wanted to, I could walk away from this situation right now because you're not obligated to control me anymore." Ava snapped.

"Control you anymore? You seriously think just because Price gave you the O.K. to not have me conduct your trainings anymore, supervise you whenever you're in the shooting range and tell you when you should go to bed and wake up in the morning, that I no longer had control over you? Just remember who you're obligated to listen to when we're actually out on a mission, Suriello. Just remember whose arse you run to when you decide to fuck up and miss a target on the battle field." Soap said, and turned to make his way towards the training area.

Ava stayed in one spot and tried to keep her cool, how could someone who acts so caring and protective one day change into a complete ruthless person the next day?

Soap turned around and arched an eyebrow "5 and half hours, now I suggest you start moving." Ava made a fist and followed him. "If you want to punch something, I'm right here." Soap smirked, but Ava no longer found anything funny.

"Go to hell, Soap."

Xxxxxxxxx

Captain Price blew out the hot air of smoke from his mouth and closed his eyes for a moment. It felt good to have an office to him where he could have some privacy away from everyone else; it was much better than being in a cold cell for endless hours every day. Days went by and it drove Price crazy when he had to wait but he trusted that the men who had eyes and ears on Makarov would report back to him with any trace that they had. It felt like he was starting from scratch again, without any current resources there were no way that he could locate Makarov or even predict what his next move would be. He stopped depending on the news for anything because the media just published a bunch of bull shit. It was evening time and most of the members were either taking a stroll around the base, training or resting. There wasn't much to do since they didn't have much access to technology or whatever entertained human beings nowadays, but they did know how to occupy themselves. Price sat back in his office chair and blew out the smoke from his mouth, as he held the cigar firmly in his hand. Soap's condition turned tables quickly, and he almost back to his old self which was good. While Yuri was adapting to his new team which was good too.

At moments like these, he felt like the team was that all he could depend on; even now when they were disavowed and they had nowhere to turn, he could feel their patience. They were working harder, getting stronger and at any moment he knew that they would be ready to move even faster than before. Captain Price was grateful for the team that stuck by his side from day 1, and now he had to pull his end of the weight and give them a reason to be here.