Early Birds

Safety

Before long, they arrived at the safe house. Reaching round, Ghost gently stirred the dozing woman to let her know they'd arrived. Walking round the side of the safehouse, he slowly lowered her to the ground. 'Stay here a minute, have to make sure the safe house is clear' he warned.

Worm shivered in her sitting position, feeling exposed and fearful as she looked around, barely seeing anything around her except shadows. Soon Ghost was back saying everything was all clear, filling her with relief. 

He quickly picked her up in his arms and carried her inside, placing her on the old battered sofa. Ghost radioed for exfil and a medic to be on standby, before starting a fire in the old wood burner.

In the dim light, Worm could see that it was a very small hut with little furniture and looked like it had been abandoned a long time before. Kneeling in front of her Ghost gently pulled up her trouser leg to assess her injury. He made quick work taking the old dressing off, cleaning the cut, determining that it would need stitching, before wrapping it in a clean dressing.

'Exfil isn't for another two hours, so why don't you try to get some sleep, I'll keep watch' he said giving her some painkillers and some of his water. 

Worm nodded and laid back on the old sofa trying to get comfortable. Ghost pulled up an old armchair to the window, so he could keep watch.

Worm's side ached and she couldn't get comfortable on the lumpy sofa, feeling cold seeping into her bones, despite the wood burner. She tossed and turned for a while, unable to get comfortable, causing Ghost to comment 'Stop wriggling little Worm and get some sleep'.

'I'm trying to, but I can't get warm and my side aches, can't get comfortable'. She said with a huff.

Ghost heart pained at her discomfort. 'Come over here then' he said 'Come sit with me, we can share body heat, maybe then you can get warm and rest' he explained feeling the craving of having her close to him.

'You sure, Lieutenant, won't that be seen as fraternising?' Worm joked despite wanting nothing but the comfort of his hold and to feel safe.

'Yes, just get your arse over here' he ordered. Ghost gestured for her to sit in his lap. Worm sat down sideways and Ghost immediately pulled her close and put his arms around her, making her rest her head on his upper chest. Worm moved her arms around his waist and snuggled in, feeling instantly warmer, sighing contentedly.

Ghost chuckled 'Better?' he asked.

'Yes, much better, you're like a human radiator, how come you're so warm, it's freezing in here?' Worm asked.

'Got a fast metabolism' he replied bluntly.

Worm quickly fell asleep. Ghost felt immediate comfort in her weight against him, revelling in holding her tight. He had to focus so he wouldn't fall asleep too.

After a couple of hours, Nikolai, called him on his radio to say he was almost there, so Ghost gently woke the sleeping Worm to let her know. She was so comfortable she didn't want to move from her spot, so groaned at him, making him chuckle. 'C'mon love, gotta move' Ghost prompted her.

The two left the safehouse, Worm on piggyback, and headed further up the hill to a wide open area suitable for Nikolai to land the helicopter. Very soon, Worm could hear the sound of the helicopter, growing nervous about the impending flight. 

As soon as the helicopter landed, Ghost helped Worm on board, strapping her into her seat and putting a headset on her, before strapping himself in.

Worm's stomach lurched as the helicopter took off, gripping the arms rests and closing her eyes. She felt Ghost's hand on hers, reassuring her, making her feel she could breath a little better. She looked round and smiled at him in thanks.

The flight was only a half hour, landing in an air base in Romania. As soon as they disembarked medical staff appeared with a wheelchair to take Worm to the infirmary to have her injuries assessed, Ghost thanking Nikolai before following closely behind. Ghost contacted Laswell, giving an update of their location as they entered the base.

Once in the medical assessment room, the doctor helped Worm onto a bed and started to clean, stitch and redress her leg wound. 'Where else are you injured?' she asked in broken English.

'My right side took a hit in the blast' Worm explained.

'Okay, can you please remove your clothing from the top?' the medic requested, then looking at Ghost 'Lieutenant, you must leave now',  they ordered.

Ghost glared at the doctor 'This asset is in my protective care, I'm not leaving' he said sharply without raising his voice, daring the doctor to object.

The doctor turned to Worm to ask her about it, Worm felt a surge of warmth in her chest at his protectiveness and immediately answered 'He can stay, it's fine'.

Removing Ghost's top then her own while wincing, Worm heard Ghost's sharp intake of breath as he saw the extent of the bruising on her side. 'Fucking hell Worm, why didn't you say it was this bad?' he said obviously worried.

Worm flinched as the doctor checked her ribs for fractures. 'It just felt bruised, didn't feel like I broke anything, probably looks worse than it is'. She reasoned wishing the doctor would stop pressing her ribs.

'You're a tough little Worm, I'll give you that' Ghost said quietly, causing Worm to turn and grin at him.

The doctor concluded the examination stating that she didn't think there were any breaks or internal bleeding, but that Worm needed to be monitored for the next few hours, just in case.

Worm put her top back on before handing Ghost his. 'No, keep hold of it in case you get cold again' he said quietly. 'You should lie down and try to get some rest. You need anything?'

'No, I just want to go home' Worm said sadly, feeling exhausted.

'Where did you fly from?' Ghost asked.

'Hunter base in Georgia, my truck's there' Worm replied.

'I'll make sure you get home'. Ghost reassured her, pulling up a chair to sit by the bed, intending to stay and make sure she was safe and got some rest.

Worm wriggled to get herself comfortable on the hospital bed, not sure if she could sleep, but she could at least rest. 'You okay there, Ghost, do you need to get some sleep?' she asked.

'I'm fine, don't worry about me' he replied quietly.

'Well I am worried about you, you haven't stopped or rested yet, you must be tired' she huffed in annoyance.

Ghost chuckled, 'I'm fine, I'll rest when I've finished my mission' he responded.

'Your mission?' Worm teased.

'Yeah, getting your arse out of the station and getting you to safety' he responded teasing her in return.

Worm laughed 'Do your missions usually include being really sweet to your target, giving them a piggyback, cuddling them, making sure they're warm and comfortable, do I need to be worried?' she teased.

'All part of the service' he said with a wink and chuckling at the face she was pulling.

'Well thank you for your service' she teased. Despite her discomfort, Worm could feel her eyelids start to close as her exhaustion began to pull her into sleep.

'Ghost' she murmured reaching out her hand. Ghost took her hand a squeezed it. 'Thank you for finding me and keeping me safe' she said sleepily, as she dropped off to asleep.

'Always, love' Ghost whispered.