After that, Ghost always requested Roach for missions. They worked well together and Ghost found he could rely on Roach to do whatever he asked. His private agenda, to keep the other man safe, tied in well with this.

Roach, after everything that had happened in Mexico, was spending more time with Ghost now. Not that he was complaining. The Sergeant would often seek him out after training and end up spending the whole day with him, even if that meant being cooped up in the office for hours at a time. He didn't seem to mind and Ghost never refused his company. Roach made even the most boring days more fun.

Price was the one to bring it up. "You and Roach seem to work together well."

"Yeah well, he adapts quickly. You and Soap were right to pick him up."

Price dropped a folder onto his desk and opened it to the first page. "There's a facility in Prague I'd like you to check out. Take someone with you, Roach I assume?"

Ghost nodded absently and began looking through the intel.

"You two remind me of Soap and me, back in the day." He was surprised to see Price smiling when he glanced up. "Maybe one day you two'll take over. A new Captain and Lieutenant in the making."

Yes, he supposed he was Roach's mentor in a way. He almost shuddered at the thought of Price having the same kind of feelings for Soap as he did for Roach. He was pretty sure the Captain wasn't referring to that.

"Maybe." He finally replied.

"Something you're not telling us?" Price's tone had Ghost's heart racing. Did he know more than he was letting on?

He was saved from answering as Soap entered the office. "Price, I need you to help with this request form, needs both our signatures." He glanced at Ghost and paused. "Alright mate, seem a little tense?"

"Fine."

"What about these papers, then?" Price patted Ghost on the shoulder and joined Soap, leaving him to stare down at the floor plan for this facility in Prague.

So Soap and possibly Price knew. At this rate, Roach would know by the end of the month. Ghost sighed and resisted the urge to bang his hands on the desk. He needed to get a grip on himself.

It was harder to do when Roach entered the room five minutes later, immediately making a beeline for his desk. He sat on the edge and glanced down at the folder. "What's this?"

"Our next mission is in Prague." He pointed out the facility. "We're going to take this place down."

"Just us?" Ghost nodded, trying to ignore the way his stomach flipped when Roach smiled. "When do we leave?"

"Couple of days maybe. Just need to go over the plan so we know what we're doing."

Roach traced a route through the facility, hand bumping into Ghost's and hell, even that small contact made his heart race. "What about the safe house?"

"What about it?"

"There's only one bedroom." Roach looked up suddenly, glancing at their Captains and Ghost was surprised to see his cheeks were pink.

"Scared we'll have to share a bed?" He teased, enjoying the way Roach's cheeks went even darker. "Don't be, there's two. If it's that much of an issue, one of us can take the sofa."

"Right."

Sometimes it surprised Ghost how young the other man was, how innocent he could be. Apparently, the thought of sharing a room embarrassed him, which only made Ghost want to protect him more.

Roach cleared his throat. "Anyway, what's the plan?"

Ghost let it slide and pulled out more papers. "We blow the place sky high."

They did too, after securing some valuable intel from a databank inside. The storm that had started before their infiltration was still going strong, soaking them to the bone in a matter of minutes. Ghost could just make out where they were heading through the downpour, splashing back to the safe house.

Ghost waited until Roach had followed him inside and shut the door, the sound of rain immediately dropping off. He struggled to peel off his soaked shirt and it hit the floor with a wet slap when he stretched, running a hand through his hair to unstick it from his head. Rain really was a pain.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" He turned, confused by the question to find Roach watching him, lips curved into one of his tantalising smirks.

"What are you talking about? If you find me attractive that's alright you know." Had Roach been watching him? Ghost tried not to show how excited that made him.

"You were doing it on purpose!' Roach pushed him back and pulled off his shirt. He proceeded to stretch, running a hand through his wet hair and if the sight wasn't seductive, Ghost didn't know what was. Roach looked satisfactorily at him afterwards. "See, I wasn't doing anything. you were flirting."

And Roach was flirting right back.

Ghost didn't realise he'd moved until Roach hit the wall with a soft thump. He had the younger man boxed in, hands on either side of his head as they looked at each other. Searching Roach's face, he felt arousal settle low and hot in his stomach as Roach's cheeks flushed, lips parting slightly. Did Roach want this just as much as he did? Apparently, he did because when Ghost looked down he could see Roach was hard.

Before he could do anything though, his phone rang. Ghost hesitated, taking one last look at Roach then stepped back to find the stupid device. When he saw it was Soap he wanted to throttle his Captain. For someone who'd been trying to get him to do this, he sure had a way of cock blocking him. "Soap?"

"You alright?"

"Yeah, we made it fine."

"You good to get online? Need a secure link."

"Uh-huh." He sat at the desk and motioned for Roach to bring him the laptop. The Sergeant still looked a little stunned but did as he was asked before leaning against the opposite desk. "One second, I'm just booting it up."

He uploaded the data he'd stolen and sent it to Soap. He wasn't paying much attention to their conversation, only occasionally agreeing with the Captain. His thoughts were still with Roach, who was starting to come back around since his expression was clearing up.

"We can go through the rest later. You guys did good tonight, get some rest."

"Alright, I'll call tomorrow." Ghost ended the call and wondered what the hell to do.

He glanced at Roach who was now pale, looking like he was going to throw up. If Soap hadn't called he would've kissed Roach, probably done a lot more too no doubt. Was he annoyed with Soap, of course. But did that mean his call saved or ruined their relationship? Ghost decided the best thing to do was play it off, not confess.

"It's a good thing Soap interrupted us, you know."

"I know."

"You were hard."

"So were you!"

So he'd noticed, Ghost felt like blushing too but forced it away. "True. How long has it been for you?"

"You know how long, what about you?"

"A few years."

"It wasn't personal."

And there it was. Roach's reaction had been natural, physical even to his advances. "Neither was mine." Ghost replied cooly because if Roach found out right here and now how he felt he might just have to shoot himself. They'd known each other for over two years and Ghost wasn't about to jeopardise their friendship over this stupid mistake. He'd do whatever it took to convince Roach it was nothing. "Shit happens, Roach. We don't need to talk about this. We're both tired and run down and got caught up in the moment. It doesn't mean anything."

But if Roach said it did then Ghost would be across the room in a heartbeat. He could control himself but if the other man wanted him too then he was pretty sure all self-control would be out of the window.

"Exactly." Still, though, Roach looked shaken, upset even. Ghost wanted to get up and hug him, take it all back but he couldn't. He didn't know what to say or do to make it better. After a couple of seconds, Roach got up and walked to the bedroom. "Goodnight, Ghost."

He watched the Sergeant close the door between them and sighed heavily. Guess he was sleeping on the sofa tonight.

With the first rays of the sun, Ghost got up and started making breakfast. He'd almost finished by the time Roach joined him, sliding into a seat at the table without speaking. When he handed over a plate, he took it without comment and began pushing the food around. Ghost sat down across from him and sighed.

"Thank you," Roach said after a few minutes, finally starting to eat. Ghost hated how quiet he was.

"You're welcome." He hated how stiff he sounded.

They ate in silence, Ghost occasionally glancing at Roach only to find him focused on his plate. Was this what their relationship would be from now on? Had he fucked it up without anything happening? The realisation that he hadn't said anything, not even kissed Roach and they could barely look at each other was horrible. If he had any doubts before about Roach's feelings, he didn't now.

"We need to go over this intel." Ghost broached carefully, bringing over the laptop to show Roach the new data. "Want to help?"

"I mean, I almost got caught to get this data so yeah, I'd like to take a look." Roach glanced up and smiled at him, shifting his chair closer. "What's next, Lieutenant?"

Ghost stared back at him in surprise but then cleared his throat, refocusing on the laptop. He didn't miss the smirk that crossed Roach's lips at the action. "Don't push me, bug."

"I'd never."

Roach was all business though when he looked at the data, the amusement fading as he concentrated. Ghost had always admired how quickly he could switch from his natural persona to being a soldier. He'd always struggled to separate his personal life from work, which was why he thought about it as little as possible. It was easier to be just Ghost.

By the time they were ready to leave, they had regained their normal rhythm.

As soon as the carrier was in the air, Roach was asleep. Ghost glanced at him and couldn't help smiling. It seemed he wasn't the only one who hadn't been able to sleep that night. Soon he found himself nodding off and stretched out to get comfortable for the long ride back to base.

When they landed, Roach was fast and already off the carrier before Ghost was even standing. He quickly caught up to the Sergeant though, grabbing his arm to stop him from running away. He had to make sure they were good, or at the very least Roach wasn't going to actively avoid him.

"We good, Roach?"

"Yep."

Too fast. "I'm serious." Ghost let him go but quickly blocked his route. "Are we going to have a problem? Because I need to know I can rely on you out there."

"Of course, you can." He smiled, relaxing slightly which almost made Ghost sigh with relief. "I'm your protégée right?"

"Better live up to that."

"I will." Roach pushed him playfully. "Now move so I can go shower."

"I didn't want to say anything..." Roach flipped him off and started walking away. Ghost wondered how far he could push the other man. "I'll need you in Soap's office in thirty minutes! Try not to think about me too much in the shower!"

"I'll make it quick!" Roach stopped and turned, blowing Ghost a kiss before rounding the corner.

Ghost smiled. Maybe nothing had changed at all and he was okay with that.