Price watched idly, reclined back in a desk chair in his office. A steaming Lieutenant stood intimidatingly at the front of his desk, frustration oozing from his tense shoulders.

"Sending her off for a mission like that was not OK, Price," Ghost said to the man sternly.

Price's disposition didn't change, still relaxed with his back in the chair. "I knew she was safe with you and Soap."

Ghost shook his head to disregard that comment completely. "She nearly got sexually assaulted. This is not something I'm alright with doing ever again."

"She's a tough girl, tougher than you're giving her credit for." Price finally uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, staring up into the Lieutenant's infuriated eyes. "We knew what room they were going to be in, had you there watching and waiting. This is routine for us. Why've ya got your panties in a twist, mate?"

"That scenario could have ended with a severely traumatized member of our team. Is that what you want for us, Captain?"

"She ain't traumatized. She's been boasting about how well she pulled it off ever since you made it back." His arms crossed against his chest as he leaned back and scrutinized Ghost one last time. "You're quite huffy about this one recruit, Simon. Don't think I haven't noticed."

Ghost took a deep, frustrated breath before responding. "Most of our recruits aren't girls being sexually exploited for intel, sir. This could have been handled another way."

"This was the quickest, easiest way. She saved us a lot of resources, L.T."

Ghost's forefinger jammed itself down pointedly on the surface of Price's wooden desk. "Next time you go trying to send her off on something like that, I'm saying no." He stared Price in the eye for a moment, letting the Captain know that he meant it. Then he finally turned, stomping out the door without another word.

Price stared after him with his eyebrow raised, wondering what the hell had gotten into the man.

You laid on your stomach on your bed, finally having found the time to tell your best friend all that had happened.

You pulled out your phone and dialed the number you'd had memorized for years, a picture of the two of you coming up as it rang.

Giddiness washed over you when she finally answered the phone. You struggled not to spew out every single detail all at once.

"Oh, my God you are not going to believe it."

She could hear your voice tremble with excitement. "Oh God. What. Spit it out right now."

You took a deep breath, unsure of where to start. "Well, I can't share too many details… Okay. So. Ever since I started on this new unit, I have - my Lieutenant - oh my God, HE'S SO FINE!" You squealed into the phone.

"Oh shit!" She responded. "Did you fuck him?!"

You gasped. "W-what?! No! …No, but… we just got sent off on a mission together, and I had to wear this super hot sexy dress. I was so embarrassed. Basically, we had to escape and I couldn't run in my shoes, so L.T. had to carry me the whole way."

You could picture her grinning face on the other end of the phone. "Oh my gosh. I need to see that dress. Keep going!"

"He had me pulled up into his lap, he wrapped his arms around me to keep me from getting cold…" you were beginning to melt all over again. "And then he gave me a piggyback ride the whole way back. He acted like he was pissed off at the Captain for sending me on such a dangerous mission! He said, 'You will never be doing something like this again!'" You did your best to imitate Ghost's accent.

She squealed on the other end of the phone line for you. "Eeee! It sounds like he likes you."

Your stomach flipped when she said that, imagining the possibility of Ghost having a crush on you. You quickly dismissed the thought away. You knew it wasn't like that. He was only protective over you because you're the newest, youngest member on the team. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have cared. "Nooo…" you said softly. "I really don't think it's like that."

"What? Why not? The dude had you in his lap."

"Well, it just wasn't like that." You sighed, suddenly feeling dejected instead of excited. "He just needed my teeth to stop chattering. Didn't want me to blow our cover."

She blew a raspberry through the phone. "Doesn't sound like that to me. I bet one of these days he's going to come over there, shove his way in your room, throw you on the bed and mack your face off."

The smile returned to your face and you blushed at the thought. Nothing wrong with having a little fantasy, right? You laughed into the speaker. "Yeah, I wish."

"So what does he look like? Send me a picture!"

Your eyes circled up to the ceiling as you considered that. You didn't have any pictures of Ghost and didn't know how to get ahold of one, but maybe... "Hmmm… I can try. Give me a few days, and I'll try to send you a picture."

The sun rose in the early morning hours the day after your conversation with your friend. You walked through the encampment, shielding your eyes from the burning light as you partially jogged through the chilly air. You typically weren't up quite this early, but you had a reason to be up so early now.

Ghost always got up to make himself a morning tea.

You cursed yourself for knowing that about him as you hurried into the canteen. For a moment you realized how stupid this little crush of yours was. Deep down you knew it would turn out like every other infatuation you'd ever had - fruitless, nothing more than a fantasy. But for now, your heart shimmered with excitement at the thought of just getting to see him. You didn't care if he didn't even say hi to you. Your heart thumped in your chest as you thought about it - Simon, skulking tiredly into the canteen in his balaclava, having not even taken the time to apply the black eye paint yet. It was a sight you had seen on the few mornings you'd gotten up this early to come in for a coffee.

The canteen was a fairly small room with some cheap white tables and chairs set up before a makeshift "kitchen" area. There was a microwave, an ice box, and a coffee maker that had a hot water feature included. That's what Simon used to make his tea.

You hurried inside, preparing a batch of coffee as you weren't a fan of warm tea. You poured the coffee grounds into a filter and pushed it into the machine before filling the coffee pot with water and dumping that in the top. You watched as the water began dripping down into the filter before drizzling farther, producing that delicious black liquid you and your mates enjoyed so much. Whoever normally comes in to make coffee would likely be pleased to see it's already made.

You poured yourself a cup and seated yourself patiently at the table. You had your phone out, scrolling through some things when Simon finally walked through the door. You glanced up at him and saw that you were right. He hadn't even applied his black eye paint yet. He wore a regular black face mask with the usual dark military cargo pants, and a gray hoodie with the hood pulled over his head. His eyes were red and drowsy.

What a cute, sleepy, murderous man.

"Morning, L.T.!" You said, chipper. You hoped it wasn't obvious you were mostly happy just to see him.

He turned his head towards you as if he hadn't originally seen you there. He shot one eyebrow-raised glance at you before turning to the machines and pulling out a mug. You saw the shadows of bags under his eyes. "Morn'." His voice was gruff, deep, and tired. Sounded as if he hadn't slept well last night. You heard the sound of liquid twinkling into the cup before Ghost spoke up over it. "Y'know you're in my seat."

You barely heard him, your phone in your hand and trying to take a picture, but the blasted man had his broad-shouldered back facing you. You went ahead and snapped a picture anyway, enjoying the way his shirt pulled at the center of his shoulders, the arms of the hoodie straining around his biceps whenever he moved. It was a sight you had feasted on many times before. Then, quickly and without second thought, your camera panned down to his butt. You held back a mischievous giggle as you snapped a picture of that, too.

Finally, he turned partially around, head down as he put a tea bag into his glass. That was the moment you got a picture that would be good enough for your friend. You planned to delete the other two later. You exited out of the camera application as Ghost sat down across from you, settling into one of the plastic chairs with a tired sigh. You didn't acknowledge him, distractedly scrolling to your messages and sending the picture to your best friend. You smiled to yourself, anticipating the way she would swoon over that image of his delicious biceps, those large, veined hands wrapped around a tiny cup of tea.

"What're you smiling about?" He interjected your thoughts suddenly.

You looked up from your phone to see him gazing at you. Your heart fluttered every time you made eye contact with him for the first time in a while. He just stared at you tiredly, his head rested boredly against his curled fist. "Oh, I'm just talking to my friend," you responded back to him.

"You don't expect me to believe you actually have friends, do you?"

You glanced up at him again, seeing the trace of a smile in his eyes. He was teasing you. You locked your phone screen, setting it face down on the table. "Soap would like to have a word with you on that one."

"You're texting Soap?"

You paused, surprised at the question. "No. I have two friends, thank you?"

He didn't respond, only looked at you. It began to dawn on you that somehow you had the Lieutenant's full, undivided attention, and you weren't even on a mission. He leaned forward onto the table casually, just watching you. You almost blushed, beginning to feel a little nervous. Why do his looks last for so long? What in the hell is he even thinking?

You took a sip of your coffee as a distraction. Feeling awkward with the silence, you sat your cup back down and made an observation. "You look tired."

He blinked once, processing your statement. Then he settled back into the chair as if he'd just remembered where he was. "Tired. Hungover."

You raised an eyebrow. "You drink all alone at night?"

"Sometimes."

You pondered that for a second, imagining Simon back in his room, swallowing mouthfuls of whiskey and doing whatever else the mysterious man does in his spare time. You wanted to ask, but knew he wasn't very fond of personal questions. You decided to ask anyway. "What were you up to?"

He paused for a moment, just staring into your eyes idly. Then he spoke. "Trying to calm down after my conversation with Price." He didn't fully answer your question, but it was close enough.

Your eyebrows shot up. "Conversation with Price?"

He nodded his head once, as if the implication was obvious. "Like I said. We're never sending you on a mission like that again."

"Well, it didn't turn out too-"

"You have a fuckin' hickey on your neck."

He stopped you cold in your tracks. Your fingers rose to brush across the place where Vladislav had bitten you. You grimaced at the thought, having noticed the ugly bruise when you got home. "Well, I mean, he's dead now?" You smiled, trying to hide your discomfort.

He noticed. Looking over at you with that low-lidded gaze, his dark brown eyes traveling down to your neck before returning once again. A low grumble escaped his chest. "Mm. Right."

Your phone buzzed then. You quickly picked it up, turning it around to see the texts begin pouring in:

OH MY GOD

ASDKFJFHSJALMHAHHDBD

HOLY MOTHER OF !

THOSE SHOULDERS!

You laughed aloud, heat rising to your face when you remembered that Ghost was watching you.

"Right. Well," he began to rise from his chair, cup of tea in hand. "I'll leave ya to it."