You were surprised when Soap took you all the way to a helicopter headed back for base. When you'd questioned him on why you were leaving, he told you that Price had ordered him to take you home.

"Why?" You'd asked.

Soap looked at you with a grimace. "Have you not looked at yourself, Y/N?"

You used the screen of your phone to look at your reflection and immediately realized what he was talking about.

You looked awful. One of your eyes was bruised and puffy across the bottom lid. You had finger-shaped bruises wrapped around your neck. Your bottom lip had been split open. And your body ached with an extreme soreness you hadn't felt since you completed basic training. You looked like you'd been hit by a van.

Even still, though, you hadn't wanted to leave. What about Price and Ghost? What are they back there doing?

"Gathering more intel," Soap responded when you asked him. "They'll be back in a day or two."

"Are we any closer to capturing Maghrebi?"

"No. Pretty far off from the looks of it."

The next few days passed by slowly, the time dragging on and on due to your injuries keeping you from doing much. You were forced to occupy yourself with horribly menial tasks that bored you, causing you to nearly fall asleep at your makeshift work desk in your room at base.

You stared down into a stack of papers, wishing they would just burst into flames.

Your phone dinged and you gratefully picked it up, happy to have an excuse to take your eyes away from the stack of paperwork. It was Soap.

L.T.'s just come back. Thought you might want to know.

You prickled slightly at the implication of his words, 'thought you might want to know.' Does he mean anything by that…? you wondered, annoyed once again that he kept trying to insinuate there was something going on between the two of you. Still, your heart fluttered at the mention of Ghost's arrival back on base. You missed his presence, missed catching glimpses of him going about his day as you worked around the encampment. Him being gone felt like a small piece of happiness had been taken away from your daily life. A few times over the last few days, you'd found yourself wishing you had his phone number so you could inconspicuously ask him questions about how the mission was going without you and Soap. You wondered if he'd be open to the idea of texting you. Wondered if he might even open up some doors for conversation between texts. Your imagination was soaring once again, imagining what kind of chats you could possibly have with the Lieutenant over your cell phones. You imagined yourself sending him memes or videos, wondering if he'd send any back, a chance to see further into what kinds of things amused him.

You decided not to respond back to Soap, heaving a sigh and adjusting your eyes back to the paperwork before you. You checked off and initialed some things here and there, mind returning to its focus when you jumped at the sound of a knock on your door.

"Who…" You whispered to yourself, achingly pulling yourself from the chair and moving to the door.

You pulled it open, a confused look on your face when you saw him.

Simon.

Standing hulkingly in your doorway, his head nearly reaching the top of the entrance. He wore the balaclava with his black eye paint smudged around the corners, a black T-shirt that showed off his muscular arms, and a pair of casual jeans to match.

Nervousness flared up in your heart. You remembered how terrible your face looked the last time you'd seen it.

"Can I come in?"

You ducked your head, trying to hide your face from him. "Sure," you responded, turning away quickly and walking back into your room. He followed behind you, closing the door behind him.

You stood by your desk, anxiously pretending to shuffle your papers around to avoid looking at him. You kept shuffling them when you felt his presence come closer.

You nearly jumped out of your skin when you felt his hand reach around your face, a finger pressing against your chin and turning you gently towards him.

You finally looked up at him. He could see the concern in your eyes, your worried expression speaking volumes. You hadn't wanted him to see you all beat up like this.

He took in the sight quietly, not saying a word. You saw his eyes flickering back and forth around your face. You felt embarrassed knowing what he was seeing, but couldn't bring yourself to turn away. You began to see a different emotion in his eyes than what you were expecting - you thought he would appear unimpressed at the sight of you. But instead, his brows were furrowed with concern, and something else… Guilt?

He sucked in a breath through his teeth. He still wasn't looking in your eyes, his gaze shifting back and forth all over your face, taking it all in. The bruise under your eye, your swollen, split lip, and the most horrifying part - the finger-shaped bruises wrapped around your neck. Shyly your hand rose and rubbed at it the same way you'd done when he commented on the mark Vladislav had left you weeks before.

You heard a low sound escape his throat. You finally met his eyes once again and had to stop yourself from moving away from him - he wore a dark expression behind the mask, his eyes hateful, shoulders taut. Like he wanted to hit someone.

"They got ya pretty good, huh," he growled, his voice low and angry.

"They're dead," you responded quickly, your head lowering as you looked down to your feet. You caught a glimpse of Ghost's fists clenched at his sides. You saw him squeeze them tightly for a moment, letting out a heavy sigh before finally unclenching them. You looked up at him once again, his expression softening when your eyes made contact with his.

You both just looked at each other for a moment, silent thoughts passing between you. He was standing so close to you, his chest less than a full foot from your body. He didn't seem to care about "personal bubbles," although that didn't bother you.

You were tugged from your thoughts when he turned silently around, pulling out the chair from your little eating area and taking a seat there. He sat down heavily, relaxing with his back in the chair, knees spread out comfortably, taking up a large amount of space in your small room. "Tell me what happened."

You took a seat in the chair you were sitting in before, turning it around to face him instead of the desk. "Well, I kind of want to know what happened on your end first." You settled into the chair, finally raising your eyes to look at him once again. His burly arms were crossed against his broad chest. You folded your nervous hands together in your lap.

He took a moment before responding. "Soap saw it first. He shouted that someone grabbed you. We turned around, saw you getting dragged away. Nothing we could do. Men kept coming up out of the snow." He paused. "When I had a chance to look, I saw you get walloped with the butt of a rifle. Saw you fall to the ground. We were getting fired at on the other side again. Next time I turned, you were gone."

You took a deep breath, seeing the seriousness in his eyes as he weighed your expression. You didn't want to make him think you were fragile, but it was a scary moment, and still frightening to think about. Your life could have been over in seconds, had they decided that's what they wanted. Ghost knew that, too.

He continued again. "When we finally got our side under control we followed your trail until it disappeared. Price gave the order for us to continue on to the village. We'd come get you later." He paused. "Hoping you were still alive."

You sucked in a breath.

"Soap saw a snowmobile in the village. Stole it. Went searching for you. Good thing he did. That's the only reason he managed to pick up your signal. Price and I couldn't hear you."

Your jaw worked, Ghost's description somehow bringing you all the way back to that snowy graveyard you thought you were going to die in. You didn't realize just how much it had affected you until you heard his description of the event. In the moment, you handled the situation the only way you could. You hadn't let fear take control. But now that you were gone and safe from there, the fear had come back. You were full of discomfort realizing just how close you'd come to having your life taken away from you, snuffed out at the hands of the enemy.

You fiddled with your hands in your lap, images of white snow, white masks, and white snowsuits flickering around in your mind. You never wanted to go there again.

You took a deep breath, looking up at Simon again to see those deep brown eyes gazing at you silently. "Your turn," he said.

You took yet another deep breath before continuing. "Well… I remember taking a shot at someone, when all of the sudden I got yanked backward by the hood of my coat. The collar was choking me out and I couldn't yell out for help. I watched you guys get farther and farther away until I finally realized I could unzip my jacket and get out of it." Ghost's head tilted slightly to the side as he listened to you speak. "I stood up, but as soon as I got to my feet, everything went black. I woke up and it was night time. They laid me on a tarp, put my jacket back on me, and wrapped me up in a blanket. I guess they didn't want me to freeze." You glanced at Ghost, seeing him watching you still. "I woke up, they started asking me questions. I didn't want to tell them anything, but even if I did want to, I couldn't. He kept asking me questions and then immediately kicking or hitting me. I was just reeling, I could barely register what was even going on. I've never been… beat up like that before. Then near the end of it, he asked me something, I don't even remember what. I didn't answer, and he just started choking me out. I thought I was going to die." You gulped, glancing up at his eyes once again. "...I hate to admit it, but in my head I was just begging you to show up. I kept looking around for you guys, hoping you were just waiting for your chance to jump somewhere in the trees… That's all I remember. He choked me until I passed out."

You saw a look pass over his eyes. He shifted in his seat. A memory trickled into your mind then. Goosebumps formed along your arms as you remembered that vision you'd had, once again feeling his breath waft across your skin as you laid there in the snow.

Come back, love.

You swallowed, deciding not to say anything about that.

He saw your tentative look and ushered you to continue. "Go on."

"...I woke up, and I guess they were watching me in shifts or something. I saw one guy standing with his back to me, playing with my earpiece. My wrists were tied, but I managed to pull them up under my legs to get my arms out in front of me. Then I snuck up behind him, and, uh…" you trailed off nervously. Then you remembered that Simon had a body count much higher than yours. "I… strangled him just like he strangled me. Except I didn't stop. I watched him die. Then I took his gun, shot his friends. Found my earpiece, called Soap…" Your eyes milled about the room, shrugging your shoulders as if it wasn't all that traumatic. "...That's it."

Simon shifted his position, his head tilting to the other side as he gazed at you. "I'm proud of you, Y/N."

Your mouth nearly fell open. "Proud of me?"

He nodded his head once. "Glad to see you can take care of yourself. Easies my worries a bit."

Your ears pricked up. "Your worries?"

His gaze faltered, eyes flickering away for a moment before returning back to you. "Wouldn't want to lose ya, sweetheart."

Something tickled in your gut. It felt as if you'd just taken a big hit of some euphoric drug. A smile tugged at the corner of your lips. You tried to fight it but ended up grinning, your head falling down shyly. "Thanks, L.T."

You looked up into his eyes, grinning at him. Your heart soared. You thought you could see a smile in his eyes as well, slightly amused by your response. He watched you for a moment before he stood up from the chair, turning his back to you and heading towards the door. "Let me know if you need anything. You deserve a break."

You were still grinning merrily at his retreating back. You couldn't wipe that damn smile off your face. Sweetheart. "Mmkay."

His hand wrapped around the doorknob, pulling it open a crack.

"Wait!" You cried out, jumping up from the chair and hurriedly moving to his side. He turned to face you again, hand still on the doorknob, before it fell to his side as he looked down at you.

You stood close to him, looking up into those beautiful brown eyes that you loved so much. Standing in his bubble the way he tended to stand in yours. "There is… One thing I want to ask you for, L.T."

His brow raised slightly. "What's that?"

You looked down at your feet, nervous. You weren't sure if you should ask him this. You buzzed, your hands beginning to shake as you tried to force the question to come out. You clasped them politely behind your back. "Ummm…" You stubbed your toe on the floor, knowing this was a gamble. You took a quick breath before turning your head up to look at him once again. You smiled. "I was wondering, if maybe you could…"

You saw his head tilt to the side, focused and waiting patiently for you to say it.

"Kiss me?"

He blinked. Your sheepish smile grew a little bit wider. You saw his eyes flickering between yours, searching for the hint of a joke within them. Then he realized there wasn't one.

You weren't joking at all.

He blinked once again, finally straightening up, looking down at you with unreadable eyes.

Your stomach flipped, realizing this may not have been a good idea.

"Kiss you?" He repeated. Seemed like he was searching for what to say.

You had caught him utterly off guard.

"Mmm-hmm." You briefly moved up on your tiptoes, that hopeful smile still beaming upon your lips as you expectantly awaited his response. His confused eyes followed yours, up and then down… And then there was a faint, but deep, flicker in your heart.

Something about that unbroken gaze struck you.

You felt like you could see all the way through him. You could see him. You could see Simon, deep down in those mysterious dark eyes. A window had come right open, and you found yourself caught within the windy drafts of his soul. It was somehow both warm and chilling at the same exact time, thawing your heart and freezing your bones. It felt, for a moment, that you two were connected somehow.

It was electric.

Until suddenly, the expression behind his eyes changed, and that window abruptly closed shut. That beautiful, fleeting moment had gone - you actually just watched it disappear.

"Erm..." He muttered. Your stomach churned. This didn't seem to be going the way you wanted. "...What about Soap?"

Your eyebrows bunched together in confusion. "Um… what about him?"

"I thought you two had a thing."

You laughed out loud before you could stop yourself. "Soap?"

He shrugged his shoulders quickly, as if you'd just asked him what brand of tampons you should be using.

You laughed again. He thinks I'm dating Soap?! "Are you nuts? Soap's a slut."

Simon blinked. His expression changed. He chuckled, shaking his head and looking at the floor for a moment before sucking in a thoughtful breath and meeting your eyes again. His eyebrow was raised, but he looked slightly amused. His hands found their way into his pockets. "That's a bit inappropriate."

You stared into his eyes, your quiet disappointment barely visible within them. You tried to hide it, but knew you were failing. You gave him a sad, closed-lipped smile. Shrugged your shoulders. "Worth a shot."

He didn't respond immediately, just gazed down at you, as if he was seeing you for the very first time.

He reached out and placed his hand at the top of your head, playfully ruffling your hair. "I'm flattered." He took his hand back and looked down at you. You looked up at him through your now-messy hair, reaching your hands up and brushing it back into place. You laughed, a genuine smile replacing the sad one.

"Not to mention -" He reached forward, lightly cupping your chin with his fingers. He tilted your head slightly upward. Your eyes widened, holding your breath. You felt his thumb brush gently across your bottom lip, tugging it downward before setting it free. "- you've got a split lip."

He gave you one last look in the eyes before turning to the door, pulling it open and stepping out without another word.

The door closed behind him and you stood there, just staring at it.