Early Birds

After

Ghost sat on his bed deep in thought. Even though he was exhausted, his mind was cluttered with the days events. His shoulder throbbed, but he could still feel the warm, gentle touch of Worm's hand. Despite deciding to ask her for help, his anxiety was overwhelming as he prepared to allow her so close to him, fighting down his nausea and struggling to keep control of his breathing. 

From a young age, Ghost had learned that touch meant pain and fear, so even going into adulthood, he had avoided any form of physical intimacy. The emotional and physical abuse of his childhood had meant that he was sceptical of relationships, so never pursued romantic or sexual relationships. That's not to say that he hadn't experienced sexual contact.

Joining the army as a young man, there was the usual initiation rituals for young privates on leave overseas – a visit to the red light district. It was seen as a rite of passage for new squaddies. There were also a few drunken one night stands, that he and his mates entertained, but they had been emotionless trysts. So the notion of soft, loving and welcome contact was an alien concept to him. 

The brutal and sustained, physical and mental torture he endured in Mexico, had only cemented this. He had developed an real aversion to touch, his mandated therapist had attributed it to his PTSD. Ghost had managed it over the years by simply avoiding all forms of contact, honing his fighting skills to minimise any contact from his adversary. The only other contact being the odd congratulatory slap on the back from Price.

He hadn't thought about needing to remove his top to have his wound treated, so Worm asking brought a cold fearful sweat. He couldn't be bare in front of anyone, he didn't even want to look at his own bare body. But Worm had immediately interrupted this by giving him a way out, seeming to understand his mental struggle. He didn't know why he had admitted to Worm that he didn't like being touched, perhaps the anxiety had left his guard down, or perhaps he simply felt safe with her. 

Either way, he was amazed that he could feel his panic decreasing, the longer her hand was in contact with his shoulder. Even her working with the wound was gentle and caring, something he wasn't used to. He was almost sad when she had finished so efficiently, wishing the sensation to continue. He though about her gentle instruction, talking him through every stage of the process, preparing him for each action as though he was a frightened child. But rather than feeling bemused or offended, he found it soothing and reassuring. There was no condescension in her voice, no mocking in her tone, just an open willingness to care and help him.

Ghost reluctantly got up and showered before falling into bed, finding himself falling into a gentle easy sleep, something that was very rare. He dreamt of soft caresses and gentle voices, feeling as though he was cocooned in a soft embrace.

---

The base was quiet the next day with tired relaxation after a successful mission. Even though they didn't get Petrov, there was an air of optimism in having cut of one of the arms of his operation and anticipation as to what Laswell could gain from interrogating Zakiv and Yuri.

Worm kept to her usual routine, getting her coffee before getting on with uploading surveillance footage and photos to the database. The work was simple and routine, but Worm like the simplicity and clarity of the process. Logging each file, uploading the footage, noting key information; location, date, names and keywords, ready for the encoding. 

Worm was making good progress, but was coming to the most time consuming part – entering the codes for cross referencing. Lost in her work, Worm missed lunch so was interrupted by Price bringing her some food.

Price relaxed in the IT room, flicking through some of the notes Worm had been making, while she ate. 'You're making real good progress here Worm' he commented.

Worm nodded 'most of the files are uploaded now, just a few surveillance files and photos to do, then I'll start filling the database'. She responded. 

'How you and Ghost getting on now?' he enquired. 

Worm laughed causing Price's eyebrows to raise in anticipation of what she was going to say. 'we seem to have come to an understanding, I don't expect us to be best buddies, but Ghost seems to be more tolerant of me'. She voiced carefully.

'You trying to be diplomatic?' Price said with a chuckle. 

'No, not at all, we worked well together on the intel for the mission, but I think that I still try his patience too much sometimes' she explained, before adding 'Why, sir? Is there a problem? 

'No definitely not', Price was quick to answer 'Ghost has been complimentary of your work so far, and he's a hard man to please'. 

Worm sighed with relief. The tension had definitely reduced since their argument and Worm felt that Ghost had made an effort to make her feel welcome. But, he was a difficult man to read and his gruff manner meant that he often sounded fed up or annoyed with her.

Price continued 'Now that we're at a break in the mission until we get updates from Laswell, I'd like Ghost to get more involved in what you're working on, it'll help you out but also Ghost will be fully familiar with the database by the time its finished. He'll be the one teaching the others how it works'. 

Worm could see that made sense, although she was unsure as to how their apparent truce would survive working so closely together. But Worm, respected Price's reasoning and expressed 'it would be great to have some additional eyes on the data we'll be coding, so I'm sure we can make it work'. 

'Glad to hear it' Price stated, before excusing himself.