Okay all of my amazing readers. Here is something new for you all to chew on. This chapter is from Ghost's POV, for once, and isn't in that letter form I've used previously. This is him experiencing a nightmare while flying from the gulag to the Task Force 141 base.

A couple of things to take note of:

1. I will not be on the computer/writing this story from this Friday to Tuesday-ish. My family and I are going on a quick vacation since it's Labor Day weekend. So, sadly, don't expect any new updates during that period of time.

2. I've decided to add a mission to the MW2 plot. Instead of heading straight into Contingency, I've decided to prove to you guys that I can actually write without having a game plot to go by. This will be a mission Task Force 141 undertakes after resting for a few days at their base. Any hints for what the mission will contain? Hmm... I'll give you one hint. Think about what spies do best. They go undercover and portray other people sometimes, right? At like fancy parties and such? Hmm... is that a good enough hint for you?

3. I will be changing the rating of this story to M soon. Very soon. Yes, this story will soon contain what some people call a "lemon." Only mine will be basically like "half" of a lemon... eh... I'm not doing a very good job at explaining this... never mind. In a review or a PM, let me know if you REALLY DO want a lemon. If you guys don't want it, I won't write it. I DO have some friends from school sort of "coaching" me through this... (they consider me pretty innocent, if you know what I mean)... but if you guys don't want me to, I won't. And please, if you have ever written a lemon, help me. PLEASE. S.O.S. I'm brand new to this type of stuff. Help! ^_^

Question of the Chapter: What song do you think could describe Mckinley/Queen and Ghost's weird relationship? I thought of "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down... any others? Please let me know.

I LOVED EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR REPLIES TO THE LAST CHAPTER'S "Question of the Chapter"! OMG I think I was laughing so hard I was crying. Thanks, guys.

ENJOY! Read and Review!

ecto1B

Note: Ghost's POV

Chapter 15:

Nightmare

A shiver rolled down his spine.

Yawning, he opened his eyes. But there was no difference between the darkness behind his eyelids and the darkness of the room he was in… was it a room? He couldn't tell. The room was pitch-black. Not even the faintest ray of light penetrated its blackness.

Ghost groaned and sat up. He clutched his head as it stung with the first signs of a headache.

"Where am I?" he murmured into the darkness. No one answered, and he let out a heavy sigh. Great, so I'm alone.

A tiny draft of cool air brushed against his completely exposed face. Ghost reached up and felt the skin along his jaw line and then up to his temples, searching for his skull balaclava and his tinted sunglasses. They were missing, much to his confusion. He was pretty sure he'd fallen asleep inside the Pave Low with both of them on… so where were they? Then it occurred to him that the floor beneath him was no longer the metal plating of the chopper. Now it was just hard, cold flooring. He wasn't in the pave low any longer.

Something definitely was amiss.

Using the floor for support, Ghost stood up and blindly began moving about the darkness. He thought that maybe if he was standing higher, his eyes might pick up some light and adjust. But that didn't happen. The darkness still submerged everything around him.

"Hello?" he called, stumbling forward when his combat boots met a slope in the floor. He regained his footing, feeling a bead of sweat slither down the length of his nose. "Is anyone there?"

Suddenly, a bone-chilling whisper murmured hoarsely from his right.

"Ghost?"

Ghost froze. "Who's there?" He whipped around, hoping to find the source of the noise beside him. But nothing but blackness remained at his side. He could've sworn the voice sounded close by…

Ignoring his question, the voice spoke again. "Ghost… please…"

"Queen?" Again, Ghost pivoted in a 360 circle, inspecting each portion of the black curtain surrounding him. Now his efforts grew more desperate, as he recognized the speaker to be Queen. She sounded numb and scared.

"Please, Ghost… help me…"

"QUEEN!" he practically bellowed. "Where are you?" His insides burned with anxiety and mild hysteria. She needed help, and he couldn't find her. That was the worst scenario… Queen was lost inside a maze of nothingness and he was unable to come to her aid.

This time, her voice sounded closer. "Ghost, you can't just leave me here to die… I thought you cared about me…"

Another voice joined hers. "Ghost! Where are you! I need backup, ASAP!"

MacTavish?

"Queen is down! I repeat! Queen is down! Our position has been compromised! We're being overrun!"

"Hang on, mate, I'm on my way!" Ghost raced forwards in the darkness, following the echoes of his friends' cries. "Hold your position! Don't leave Queen's side!" He listened for the sounds of gunshots, but could hear none. That was strange… unless the enemy was using suppressed weapons, he should be able to hear—

"Tangos coming in on my left! I can't hold 'em, I CAN'T HOLD—" The rest of MacTavish's sentence was smothered, and then hushed completely.

"MACTAVISH!" Ghost roared. "QUEEN!"

Ghost stopped running, trying to catch his breath. Tears had begun forming overtop his cloudy blue eyes, but he fought them back and gnashed his teeth together madly. He was not about to lose both of them now. They had to be alive. There was no possible way they were dead… Ghost put a hand to his forehead and wiped away the sweat, panting hard. No, they're not dead he persuaded himself to think. Queen and MacTavish are perfectly fine. Nothing happened.

"Too late, English…" a malicious voice seasoned with a thick Spanish accent cackled in his ear. Ghost's body went rigid. "Your little friends are dead."

Ghost dug his fingernails into his palms, restraining to lash out at the plump Spanish man who'd materialized from out of the darkness.

"Roba…" Ghost snarled. "You bloody son of a—"

"Now, now, English…" Roba simpered, interrupting Ghost from finishing a long string of curses and profanities. "Let us converse like gentlemen for a moment. None of those nasty obscenities are useful at a time like this…"

It took Ghost every ounce of his strength not to kill the man before him. Roba had been responsible for ordering the murders of his family years ago… and all Ghost wanted was to return the favor. Revenge had poisoned his mind and driven him insane because of Roba. Killing him was at the top of his To-Do list. But that would have to wait for now. Roba was here to speak with him, whether he liked it or not.

"What 'time' are you referring to?" Ghost inquired hotly. Much to his horror, Roba let out a content chuckle.

"A time in which you are all alone," Roba replied. "When no one is there to comfort you, or to reassure you, or to listen to your pitiful history." The man crossed his arms over his chest. "A time that is drawing nearer with each passing second."

"What did you do to Queen and MacTavish?" Ghost tried to avoid meeting the man's icy gaze, circling around the topic Roba had brought up and not responding completely.

Roba chuckled again, lowering his gaze and smirking with pleasure when Ghost twitched with discomfort. "You've got it all wrong," he murmured sinisterly, pronouncing every word in a way to make them stick in Ghost's brain.

Ghost choked back the food he'd eaten earlier and stifled a scream when Roba finished his monologue. He didn't understand a word of it yet, but he knew it would mean something in the future.

"It's not what I did, English. No, no. You shouldn't let your mind persist on that. What I did to them in this nightmare of yours is far less worse than what is to come. You shouldn't worry about what I can do to them, English. It's what he'll do that should worry you."