Modern Warfare: Ghosts

3

Somewhere in Mexico...

With the crescent moon high above them, a line of armored vehicles kick up dirt behind as they drive through the desert come to a stop, parking aside each other and lighting the area as they keep them running.

Nosia is first to exit, Ghost on the other side, crickets chirping all around them. She pulls Hassan from the back seat with a bag over his head and arms bound behind his back, walking him into the spotlight from the vehicles headlights, dropping him to his knees. Commander Phillip Graves sets up the laptop atop the hood of one of the vehicles, centering it on Hassan and the group as General Shepherd watches from the other end. 

"Y'all got a clear picture?" Graves questions towards the camera.

"Crystal." Shepherd responds through the speakers.

Ghost, Nosia and Alejandro circle Hassan before removing the bag over his head. Graves joins them, standing across the distressed Hassan on his knees, looking up to them.

"Do you speak Arabic?" Hassan questions directly to Graves.

"No." He responds, almost cheerfully.

"Farsi?"

"No."

"Of course not." He gives a sarcastic smile. "Then I'll speak your bastardized medieval English because you are all uneducated street dogs."

Graves shakes his head, letting out a sigh as he kicks the dirt beneath him. "We're getting off to a bad start here, Hassan."

"You are talking to a Quds force officer." Hassan snaps back.

"You're the commander of a foreign terror organization. What's your target, Major?" Graves says, clearly growing impatient.

"What was your target when you sent missiles to my land?"

"Just a wild guess but probably to nail your ass." Graves stares intimidatingly.

"So insolent and foul-mouthed. Your nation will learn to respect me when it sees fire."

They watch as Graves' anticipation grew to impatience as he steps closer, looking down to Hassan with his lip pinched tight in aggravation. "You are in bed with the cartel, Hassan. If you disappeared, no one would know where to look for the fuckin' stain." He snaps.

Hassan laughs, looking over to the other three as they sit back watching. "I have no doubt you'll take pleasure in torturing me."

But alike Graves, everyone was losing patience and wanted answers, tired of the back-and-forth. Suddenly interrupting them, hyenas could be heard cackling somewhere in the dark distance beyond the headlights reach. "Take a look around, Hassan." Graves looks out to the darkness. "Now you can either become part of the food chain or you can start talking." He leans over, meeting at eye-level with him.

"I'm a hostage here. This is illegal."

"You're a prisoner of war." Alejandro adds.

"Iran is not at war with Mexico. I've broken no laws." Hassan remarks. "These men and their commanders are the law breakers!" He grows more aggressive.

Shepherd breaks in through the speakers of the laptop as he watches. "I want this bastard in permanent custody or looking up at the goddamn grass." He demands.

Nosia shakes her head, assessing the situation as she rethinks on what Hassan mentioned. She steps forward, grabbing everyone's attention. "General..." She begins, her accent thick. "Hassan is right. Killing him is an act of war and keeping him is illegal. Right now, he is too hot to hold."

Angry, Graves breaks from the group and takes the laptop, spinning it atop the hood of the vehicle and talking directly to Shepherd. "Actual, let me finish this." He pleads.

"There is nothing I would like more. But Scope is right. Without proof we need to turn him loose. See where he leads us."

Moral amongst the group falls upon Shepherds words. They couldn't argue.

Nosia looks over to Ghost who holds Hassan's phone, walking over and taking it. "I'll upload this data to Laswell, see if she can find the next hit for us. Sound good, General?" She asks.

"Copy that. Now take him back and let him go."

She looks to Ghost who begrudgingly nods his head in approval. She plugs the phone into the laptop and downloads everything she can as the boys bag his head and carry him back into the vehicle. Once finished, she unplugs the phone and hops in with the laptop aside Hassan, slipping his phone back into his pocket before they finally head back.

-

They fall back to Alejandro's base, sluggishly removing their gear as they all felt defeated. In the armory as Alejandro leaves, patting Ghost and Nosia's backs leaving the two alone. Ghost sits next to Nosia as she picks at her fingers, feeling responsible as the team leader to check on the teams morals. 

"I know how much it meant to you, capturing Hassan." He begins, looking straight ahead at a lockers holding their vests. She pulls the turtlenecks sleeves over her hands, bringing them to her face as she rests her head in her hands. "You're a good soldier, Scope. We couldn't have gotten to that point without you." He finishes, his voice typically deadpan, but in this moment, it carried a hint of sympathy.

"I just can't help but feel like we failed miserably. All those men we lost along the way, just to let him go. It's haunting me. They all died in vain." She sighs, staring to the floor. Ghost glances over to her, the light in her eyes dimming. He couldn't stand to see her so defeated.

He wraps his arm over her shoulder, pulling her in for a brief side hug. This kind of affection and empathy was unseen from Ghost, but she managed to dig a soft spot into his heart along their mission. "It's never in vain. Once Laswell finds Hassan's next hit, we'll catch him with his pants down and take him in cold."

"I hope so." She says, pain in her voice as she looks down to her watch, Ghost letting go and scooting over to give her some space.

"Want me to get you a new one?" He asks, looking to the broken watch.

"No." She chuckles, a solemn smile on her lips. "My brother gave this to me as a gift when I went into the PAF."

"Didn't know you had a brother." He responds.

"Well, there's a lot I don't know about you either." She looks over and meets with his eyes. "My brother... He was my role model--a medic in the Polish army. He taught me everything I know." She looks down to the watch, her smile fading. "He died during his deployment. My parents died shortly after in a car accident, and I had no one left. That was right before I was recruited into the SAS. I was only 24." She finishes, looking back to Ghost with glossy eyes as she fought back tears.

"I'm sorry to hear that Nosia." He says, catching her attention as he uses her real name. "I have my demons too, so I understand."

"I hope one day you feel comfortable opening up about them to me."

Ghost nods his head, looking over to her one last time as they were both hunched over on the bench. "Get some rest, chap. We'll take Hassan down and avenge everyone we've lost along the way. I need you sharp--I'm depending on you." He pats her shoulder before standing and leaving the armory.