Ghost and König Meet Their Match

Chapter Nineteen

You were gone, that was the only thing anyone on this base knew. Your phone was left in Soap's room along with your dogs, who cried when they scented you from your pile of blood. They tugged Price and Ghost, trying to pull them in separate directions from each other, notifying the two men that they had lost your scent any further than this. 

Ghost knelt in the dirt, placing his hand along the fur of your canine's soft ears, Lynx staring at him with a cry and sad eyes. "'S okay, boy. I'm going to get Mom home to you, promise."

The dogs were given to an officer on base who had previously been a canine trainer like you, to be taken care of in the meantime. It guilted Ghost and Konig somewhat, knowing you'd be mad they weren't the ones taking care of the pets you treated like children, but they were not in the right mindset to be taking care of anything right now. Hell, none of the task force was if the current state of the situation was anything to go by.

Alejandro had his head in his hands, speaking in Spanish to Rudy. How could no one have been with you? How did they let this happen, to you, of all people? Rudy tried to console his best friend, reassuring him with words that fell flat off of his own lips.

Konig knelt in the dirt near your now drying blood, searching desperately for any sign he could make out that would lead him to you. Something, anything, that he could take note of and use the tracking skills he had gained over his years of training but nothing. Just nothing, like you were a spirit floating away into the night's mist with no trace. Whoever had done this had been smart, calculating, and knew exactly what they were doing, which was a terrifying thought.

In an attempt to ignore the yelling and anger he could hear amongst the men, he gripped a handful of sand in his fingers before letting it fall back onto the ground. Konig tried to feel you, feel any emotion from you that he could with his mating bond to you. He should feel something, even the slightest emotion should be felt if he was searching for it, only to feel complete darkness in his connection to you. Even when you were sleeping, he could sense the slightest bit of contentment from the bond as you dozed in his arms. How could he just not feel anything from you at all?

The night's commotion was cut quiet with a loud curse, drawing everyone's attention towards the sound. Price and Ghost stood toe to toe with one another, chests puffed out with their hands pointing towards one another in an obvious argument. Konig stood, not stepping towards the scene but ready to act as it unfolded.

Ghost's anger was brought into full swing with the absolute terror tearing through his chest, his hands shaking as he faced Price with venom in his words and eyes. "What I mean, Captain," He spat the word as if an insult to his rank, "is that I keep hearing you say you have a plan and yet all I see are fucking strangers to this task force overrunning the area. Destroying any evidence we may find. Not to fucking mentioned they may be more involved in her disappearance than you want to think!"

Price chewed his lip momentarily, trying to see reason with his lieutenant, knowing he cared deeply for you but still not appreciating his tone towards him. "I understand your frustration, Simon, but if you don't stand down and let me do my job-"

Ghost scoffed, pushing his chest into Price in an unbridled attempt to get him to stumble. "If you did your god damned job correctly, the mole would have been long snuffed out, and none of this would be happening. At the very least, a fucking team would be out there now, looking for her! You're acting like this is some civilian you've never met, not someone who nearly died by your side, following your orders."

Konig's fingers twitched into a fist, balled at his side as he clenched and unclenched his hands. He was torn between letting Ghost's emotions rile his own past the point of control and protecting his task force from the obvious fallout that was about to blow up at the worst time. He began walking to his first mate to pull him away from Price when the Captian's next actions halted him instantly.

Price roughly gripped Ghost's shirt, yanking him into his own face as he spat at him with such a fire that it surprised everyone who was watching. "You think I don't want to find my own fucking daughter more than any of you lot? You don't think that my every waking moment since you wouldn't sign the dotted line on her acceptance paperwork hasn't been spent trying to get her back?" Price shoved Ghost off of him, his soldier unable to form a sentence at the revelation. "All you've ever done is break her damn heart repeatedly! So, if you so much as look at my  decisions on this recon with an expression I don't like," Price put his face back into Ghost's, speaking for only him to hear, "I will have your ass out of this task force with a dishonorable discharge in an instant."

Price shoved a stock-still Ghost out of his path, barking orders that he couldn't hear as his mind spun so fast he felt like he would throw up. You were fucking gone, not even for an hour and he was already falling into shattered pieces of himself. Everything around him felt like it was closing in, suffocating him as if the outside of the base had suddenly been drained of oxygen. His knees went weak as he crumpled to the ground, only nearly missing a complete meltdown due to Konig being there and grabbing Ghost's form. 

Konig knelt with him on the ground, being the physical strength his partner needed at the moment. Konig's legs spread to allow Ghost to lean into his chest, noticing how the lieutenant trembled as he stared at the floor, attempting to pull gasping breaths into his lungs. He could feel the panic of his mate fill himself, prompting Konig to shush Ghost with sweet nothings and promises of your return. No man dared mention the bomb Price just decided to drop, fearing the addition of this news would rip away the false facade they were both riding on.

Ghost gripped Konig's arms, looking up at him with a maskless face, "She can't fucking be gone, she can't. I just got her back, and now I can't even feel her, Konig. I can always feel her, feel her bond, no matter what. I'm always searching for it since the night we all completed our bond just to make sure it's real. That this is all real and now she's just gone. I feel nothing from her."

Konig pushed his mate's hair back from his forehead, trying his best to pull fake hope and reassurance into his emotions to allow Ghost to feel and focus on that. "We will get back our mate, our Schatz is okay. She must-" Konig paused, not wanting to admit this to Ghost and cause him any more worry but pushing through to allow no lies between the two of them, "She must have been drugged, that's why we don't feel her. When she wakes up, her bond will fill with her feelings once more, and we will feel her, I promise." Konig lovingly bumped his forehead into Ghost's, rubbing his face into his.

"I don't know how to do this without knowing she's safe, that no one's hurting her. I- I can't breathe if someone's hurting our baby, Ko." Ghost breathed out, unable to speak as he felt like he was on the brink of a panic attack, about to lose himself to his past trauma like he had so many times before.

The Colonel wanted to promise him that everything would be okay, but he never wanted to be a liar to his soulmate. "I'm going to do everything in my power to find her, just stay with me, Simon. I need you to be strong, she needs you to be strong. Can you do that for us?"

Ghost's face tilted back up to Konig's with a nod, attempting to tame his thoughts and bring himself back to reality for you. He had to pull himself together and stop being so pathetic, he couldn't afford to be breaking down and falling apart when you needed him now more than ever. You couldn't afford it.

Konig cupped Ghost's face, about to praise him for being so strong when his mate's face hit the moonlight just right and it froze Konig's motions. Konig tried not to let his pause be so obvious, collecting himself to tell Ghost he was good and strong and they would find you.

He didn't want Ghost to know that he had seen his tears for the first time in their lives.