Fire And Love

CH.2 BETRAYAL

Alejandro opened the door quickly and got out of the transport truck, sizing up the Shadow officer in front of him. It had been raining, and Soap had ignored the way his clothes began to stick to his skin. Behind Graves stood Mercury, who watched intently.

"What's this?" Alejandro had asked, slamming the door behind him. Soap was going to ask the same thing, why the hell were shadows outside of Alejandro's base?

Graves noticed their arrival, and quickly ended his conversation with two other Shadows to speak to the newly arrived group. "This is the immediate future. Step away from the gate." Graves' voice was calm and collected. However based on the way Mercury had stood up and let out a low growl, Soap could tell something was horribly wrong.

"What?" He had asked, taking his place to the behind left of the man, bewildered at Graves' sudden behavior.

"You heard me."

"You're crazy, this is my base." Alejandro growled, all but raising his voice. Reyna, who must've landed some time ago, took a step forward, baring her teeth. Graves showed no fear, smart bastard.

"This is not a base. This is a sizeable covert facility, and I admire it-" Graves paused, looking around as if to exemplify his words. "..So. I'm taking it. You boys have been relieved. Thank you for your service." He made it sound like that was a good thing. Soap's blood boiled. He could hear Scotty's growl from behind him. Who the fuck did Graves think he was? He wasn't in charge of them.

"No, no, no. I don't take orders from you." Alejandro's rage had turned to full out confusion, but the majority of the anger was still there. Soap had to agree, it was a well known fact. They didn't take orders from Graves.

Graves adjusted his stance as though they were the threat in the situation, "Didn't Valeria say that?" The man asked, "now, that makes me wonder what else I don't know about your affiliation with the drug lord."

Soap and Alejandro mad eye contact, they couldn't believe what the fuck he had just said. Reyna let out a feral growl, her tail lashing about behind her. Even in the darkness of night, Soap could see rage in Alejandro's eyes.

"What the fuck did you just say to me, pendejo?" The man took a step towards Graves, venom lacing his voice. Soap was quick to hold him back.

"You're out o' line, Graves." Soap warned, his accent thick with undeniable rage. Who the fuck did he think he was? Bastard.

"Don't do that. Don't do that." Graves said, eyes darting around, possibly to find where Ghost was. "No one needs to get hurt here."

"Are you threatening us?" There he was. Soap casted a glance behind him, though he didn't see the man he was looking for, he did see Nuri hovering beside the car. Her red eyes narrowed.

"Soldier," Graves addressed, a note in his voice making Soap scowl. "I don't make threats. I make guarantees. So let's not do this." It was no longer a command. That was a threat.

"I'm calling Shepherd." Soap said, turning away to do just that. The general would surely fix this, put Graves in line. Then they could all rest up in Alejandro's base.

"General Shepherd sends his regards." Graves said coldly. "He told me y'all wouldn't take this well."

Soap stopped, his heart clenching in his chest. The fuck did he mean? Shepherd knew?

"He knows about this?" Ghost's tone of voice made Soap bite his lip, he sounded upset. Angry, if you will. But even in all that, he sounded..hurt.

"He put me in command of this operation from here on out. So y'all need to stand down, and let the pros finish this." Graves shifted his stance, looking Alejandro and Soap up and down. Ghost shared a glance at Soap.