A few hours later...
A helicopter had come to pick them up a few hours later, Ghost waking Soap and Alejandro up so they could pack their shit and leave. Now they were in an armored vehicle, one of Graves' Shadows driving them to Alejandro's base.
The man hadn't said anything to them, just kept glancing at Ghost every so often.
Once they were stopped at the gate, Ghost immediately knew something was off. Graves's vehicle was in front of them and he was outside with a couple of other Shadows. Alejandro was the first to get out, approaching the man with a confused look.
"What's this?"
"This is the immediate future. Step away from the gate." Graves's eyes darted to all of them, lingering on Ghost the longest. He was nervous.
"What?" Soap said in disbelief. Ghost didn't like this situation one bit.
"You heard me."
"You're crazy, this is my base." Alejandro spreads his arms out wide. The action startles several Shadows and they reach for their weapons. Not pulling them out, but enough to catch their attention.
"It's not a base. This is a sizable covert facility and I admire it- So I'm taking it." Alejandro growls at Graves, taking a few steps toward him. Graves points at Alejandro in a warning.
"You boys have been relieved. Thank you for your service."
"No, no, no. I don't take orders from you."
"Didn't Valeria say that? Now that makes me wonder what else I don't know about your affiliation with a drug-lord?" Alejandro scoffs and bares his teeth at Graves in a challenge.
"What the fuck did you just say to me, pendejo..." He rushes him but Soap grabs him by the arm to hold him back.
"You're out of line, Graves." Graves backs up when Soap gets closer.
"Don't do that. Don't...do that." He shakes his head. "No one needs to get hurt here."
"Are you threatening us?" Ghost asks harshly from where he stands. His eyes lock onto the nearest Shadows.
"Soldier, I don't make threats. I make guarantees. So let's not do this." Graves was getting more agitated by the second. The Shadows behind him move closer.
"I'm calling Shepard." Soap begins to walk back to the vehicle, but Graves's next words had them all freeze.
"General Shepard sends his regards." Ghost's jaw clenches.
"He told me ya'll wouldn't take this well."
"He knows about this?" Ghost's voice comes out a little more angry than he would have preferred. It got Graves's attention, though.
"He's put me in command of this operation from here on out. So, ya'll need to stand down. It's time to let the pros finish this." That makes Ghost roll his eyes. They were the fucking pros.
Ghost notices Soap looking over at him, and he turns his head slightly. Graves notices the interaction and frowns.
"And why the hell are we talking like this is some kind of a negotiation? It's not. I've got my orders and now you have yours."
"And who the fuck do you think you are, cabron? My men are inside!" Alejandro all but shouts into Graves's face. Serves the bastard right.
"I'm afraid not. Your men have been..." Graves pauses, pursing his lips, "..detained."
That must've been what made Alejandro snap because within seconds he's launching himself at Graves. Graves shoves him off and pushes him into a vehicle, a Shadow pinning him to it and attempting to detain him.
"Graves, what the fuck?!" Soap shouts. Graves and the Shadow next to him takes out their rifle, pointing it at Soap. The Shadow shoots, but Soap is faster, grabbing the other Shadow behind him and using them as a shield.
Ghost elbows the closest soldier in the face and rushes another, pulling out a blade and stabbing him right in the throat. He fucking knew this would go to shit the moment he saw Graves outside the gate. They should have just packed it up when they had the chance, regrouped with Alejandro, and made a plan.
Ghost rips the knife free and throws it at a Shadow who was running towards him. He sees Alejandro try to strangle one of the soldiers with his hands bound, but ends up getting knocked out by the butt of a rifle.
Soap pulls out his pistol and shoots at Graves, and Graves shoots back, hitting Soap right in the bicep, and knocking him down.
"Argh!!" Ghost hears Soap shout in pain and runs behind one of the vehicles.
"Go Johnny, get out of there!" He shouts, noticing Graves circling the truck to get to where he was. "Soap - Go!"
Soap pushes the body he was using as a shield off of him and stands, grasping his arm tightly. One of the Shadows notices this and fires at him, but he dodges the bullets, and jumps over a road barricade, tumbling down a hill.
Ghost sighs in relief. Soap would make it.
"Ghost!" Graves shouts from behind him, rifle pointed at his head.
"Hands where I can see them Ghost!" Ghost swears and turns to look at Graves, who had none of his Shadows around him. He would try to throw a knife at the guy but he had the gun and Ghost didn't want to take any chances.
Ghost hears more gunfire from where Soap had disappeared, his stomach tightening with worry. He puts his hands up, and Graves approaches him slowly.
"It didn't have to be this way, Ghost. We could have worked this shit out." Ghost scoffed. They would have shot them in the fucking backs if they tried leaving.
"Bloody yanks." He sneered at the merc. Graves was close to him now, shoving the barrel of his rifle into Ghost's stomach. Ghost's muscles tensed, expecting a bullet to tear through his insides. That bullet never came.
"You will be detained for further questioning, Ghost." Graves tells Ghost, circling around him till Ghost could no longer see him.
"Questioned about what?" Ghost tries to keep his voice steady, the rush of adrenaline spiking.
"About whatever we want to question you for." Graves grabbed Ghost's hands and brought them behind his back.
That's when Ghost makes his move. He drops his body to the ground, whipping around to face Graves, and surges forward, barreling into the man. Graves grunts and swear in frustration.
"You bitch!" Graves, punches Ghost in the side, trying to get him off. There was no way Ghost was letting go though. He brings his knee up in an attempt to knee Graves right in the balls. It would've worked if the guy twisted away just enough for it to land mid-inner-thigh.
They grappled with each other, some Shadows appearing behind them, but none wanted to get involved. Ghost was fucking terrifying enough when he was on their team. And now he wasn't.
"You're gonna bleed for this, Graves." Ghost hisses and Graves finally throws him off. Ghost hits the side of one of the vehicles and Graves follows close after, getting on top of his back and pushing down.
"Get the syringe!" Graves shouts to one of the Shadows, trying to hold Ghost down on the ground. Ghost wasn't quick enough to dislodge Graves and the next thing he knows is that his mask is being lifted up above his nose and a sharp pain erupts from the side of his neck. He can feel something cool being injected into him.
"There we go..." Graves pants out. He attempts to grab the back of Ghost's neck so he could zip-tie his arms without trouble, but Ghost feels it. His body locks up before he's lashing out. Graves wasn't quick enough to get away so Ghost finds the closest thing he could find and bites down.
It's ripped off the man and Ghost spits whatever it was out. He looks down to find one of Graves's fingers. Graves howls in pain, doubling over and clutching his hand. Ghost could now taste the metallic tang of the shithead's blood.
He spits most of it out of his mouth and pulls down his balaclava.
Ghost takes this opportunity to flee, running and tumbling down the same hill Soap had. Shouts follow after him, but he doesn't look back. If they saw him, he'd already have bullets in him.
His feet catch on a large piece of rock that was lodged in the ground, causing him to trip and fall into the ground. Ghost's awareness of what was around him was growing worse by the second.
His knees ached from the fall and his wrist had twisted weirdly when he tried to catch himself.
"Fuck!" Ghost's jaw clenched at the sharp pain when he tries using his hands to push himself upright.
The city lights from Las Alma's were so good damn close. Once he got there, he could hide, maybe he could contact Soap. That was if the man was still alive, that is.
That thought made him stall. He couldn't be dead. He wouldn't...Soap wouldn't just die quietly. He would make sure Ghost knew.
Ghost got up and kept running, this time with a slight limp to his step. He definitely fucked up one of his knees.
"Bloody hell. So fucking stupid!" Ghost continued to swear as he ran until his feet finally hit the pavement on the outskirts of Las Almas.
Immediately, he ran into the first building he could see. It was a garage, but he didn't give two shits. Cover was cover.
Ghost takes a moment to steady himself, his eyes growing heavier from the mystery drug Graves injected him with before pressing a button on his radio.
"...Soap- This is Ghost, how copy?"