Loose Ends.

Chapter 9.

He glanced over at Soap.

Soap left his side the moment he heard Ryder giggling.

His jaw clenched as he watched Soap hover over her.

It wasn't jealousy he was feeling…he chalked it up to being pissed that they thought getting Ryder drunk the night before their hit was smart.

He tossed back the rest of the shitty whiskey and leaned up against the bar, watching Soap and Ryder talk to each other.

Ryder's voice was too soft. It was hard to hear her over the sound of the Arabic music. He wanted to eavesdrop, but Price turned to him.

"She's gonna do just fine tomorrow." He said in an attempt to comfort Ghost.

The masked man looked directly into his eyes, "I know she will. I'll make sure of it." Ghost mumbled.

Price sighed and looked down at his glass, "She wouldn't be a bad addition We always need more people we can trust."

"Your drunk." Ghost responded swiftly. His fist tightened around his glass, almost hard enough to shatter it. The anger that filled him whenever comments like that were made was hard to control.

"She deserves more than being a slave again. She's done plenty of that." Ghost quickly reminded Price and his eyes flashed to her; Soap had his arm around her shoulders.

Maybe it was jealousy he was feeling.

Ryder slowly lifted her head off of the countertop and began to slide off of the stool. A wobbly Soap pointed in a single direction and Ryder began to walk in a disorganized line towards the bathroom.

Ghost kept his eyes on her the entire time.

Price and Soap had reached their limit at two glasses. Ryder had four…he had been counting.

She slowly passed Ghost and walked down a hall that led to the bathrooms.

Ghost got up to follow.

If she was already clumsy before, he could already imagine the mess she was about to make now that she was drunk.

He trailed behind her loosely. She was too gone to notice him, which was fine. She got to the bathroom door on her own and slipped inside just fine.

A soft sigh of relief left his nostrils.

He didn't want anything bad to happen to her, that much he could admit to himself. However, he rationalized his thoughts by telling himself that it was only until she got back to America. He saved her after all, he absolutely was responsible for her.

The deadbolt of the bathroom door unlocked after a short moment and Ryder slipped between the smallest crack, exiting. She handled it well.

She stumbled a little as she walked back towards Ghost and he narrowed his eyes. She was pretending she couldn't see him…that or she was so drunk she actually couldn't.

He let her pass him and leave the hallways, scoffing. When she was back in the main room, a drunk man attempted to approach her, clearly out of his own mind as well. Granted, he only approached her up until he saw Ghost giving him a death glare. He slowly backed off and went back to his table where his friends were laughing loudly.

Ryder didn't even seem to notice which made a smirk creep onto his face.

Not a lot made him smile, but seeing a man get his hopes crushed by a tiny, oblivious girl definitely did it.

Soap opened his arms up wide when Ryder returned, "There's the lass," He cooed and Ryder grabbed onto his hands for support. Soap led her back to the bar counter.