Safer With A Ghost - Part Two | Simon "Ghost" Riley

Chapter Four

Walking to find Keegan, Price's mind raced. Not wanting to tell her about Valeria just yet, Price searched his mind for an answer. Upon arriving at Keegan's office, the door was open with Keegan speaking with another soldier. Price knocked on the door frame, "We have a problem." Price spoke quickly. Keegan dismissed the soldier before inviting Price in. "Ghost and the rest of the team are on their way." Keegan leaned back, "Already? We haven't had time to let her remember anything, plus the teammate you guys lost, König doesn't want her to live through that again, at least not yet." "That's my main concern right now."

König was packing his things when Ivy arrived back to their room. "Where are you going?" she asked with a small hint of panic in her voice. "Not far, Mein Schatz. It's only temporary." He assured her. "I'll be close by still, so you'll still be safe. Don't worry." Ivy nodded with hesitation, sleeping alone was not ideal for her, especially now that she was so used to having König close enough to reach him for so long. "Alright. I'm gonna get some sleep. Price and Gaz kicked mine and Soap's ass at soccer today." She laughed. "I heard," König laughed quietly, "Get some sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow."

An hour and a half had passed since Price spoke to Kate, who was only 5 minutes away from the compound. It was late at night; a cold breeze blew through the quiet trees. Crickets were the only sound other than the crinkling of the leaves on the ground. In the hour and a half since the phone call. Unable to come up with a solution that would be harm free for Ivy, the team bickered. "Alejandro's not gon' like tha'." Soap said softly as they all stood around waiting for the team to arrive. "It's going to do more harm than good if we tell her about Valeria." Price said quietly. "She's going to find out anyways." Gaz said with annoyance in his voice. "And what if she remembers her when she sees Alejandro? He's going to tell her." Soap shook his head. "If she brings her up, we'll tell her?" Keegan suggested. König shook his head, "She already gets upset when she can't remember anything, if she remembers what happened, it could trigger a worse reaction." "Maybe having Lt. here will help with the blow?" Soap suggested. The conversation was interrupted by the loud sound of the helicopter holding the rest of the team arriving and positioning above the landing zone. Upon landing, Ghost, Kate, Rudy, and Alejandro exited the helicopter, greeting everyone waiting. Keegan led everyone to a nearby place to talk and catch up.

"Ghost, it's great to see you again, my friend." Keegan said as he smiled softly. Ghost nodded, "You, too. Now what's going on that you HAD to get us out here?" Ghost questioned with a slightly joking tone. Taking a breath and positioning himself next to Keegan, Price spoke. "We can talk about that later, Simon." Ghost grew confused, Price never kept mission information from him, but he didn't push. At least not now. Being so tired from the day, he sat back and caught up with Keegan and was introduced to König . "So, you're Ghost." König nodded slowly as he eyed Ghost. "Yeah, what have you heard?" Ghost glared at Price and Keegan. "Good things, I assure you." König answered smoothly. "That's hard to believe." Ghost spat at Keegan who was handing him a foreign beer. "Hey, I always have good things to say about you." Grabbing the glass bottle from Keegan, Ghost shot him a look, "Bullshit, Keegan."

For four hours the team sat around talking and drinking. Everyone tried their best to avoid answering Ghost when he asked why he was there. "Ghost, please we'll talk about Ivy later." Gaz drunkenly said, realizing what he said as the words left his mouth. Everyone in the room froze and stared at Ghost. "What?" His beer was frozen at his lips, the mask taken off an hour ago. Setting the beer on the table, Ghost tilted his head as he looked at Gaz, "What does Ivy have to do with-" as his words stopped, his eyes darting to each face at the table who had been here before him. Price, Soap, Gaz, and Keegan all looked guilty. "Is this about Ivy?" Ghost asked with anger growing in his chest. Keegan cleared his throat and took a large swig of his beer, recognizing the tone Ghost had. Soap and Gaz looked at the table without saying a word as Soap kicked Gaz underneath the table. Price sighed and stood up, "Yes, it's about Ivy, Simon." He said quietly. "What about her?" The rage nearly exploded out of his chest as he demanded an answer. "Price!" Ghost shouted with a sharp, hoarse tone. König stood up with his hands up, "Ghost, it's better to ask me." he said calmly. Snapping his head towards König , Ghost's eyebrows furrowed. "And why the fuck would I ask you?" Ghost spat as he stepped towards König before Keegan and Price blocked him. "Simon, please, calm down." Price begged quietly. Shaking the men off of him, he turned back to König . "What do you know about Ivy?" König began explaining what had happened to him and Ivy. After going over everything, König stood still waiting for Ghost to respond.