I stare at him. From the corner of my eyes, I see Charlie leaning into my line of focus, with an expression of slight contentment and threat disguised as a smile. I purse my lips together and picked up a sheet of paper to hide his face from my view.
"No." I glare at Gaz; I don't want this friendship. Why should I give them a second chance? They have done nothing to deserve it.
"And this is why you can't keep friends," Charlie mumbles.
"Excuse me?" I turn to him offended.
"Starting over does not equivocate to forgiveness— saying yes or agreeing is not you forgiving them."
"It is to me—"
"Just say yes."
"No."
"Y/n you're being a bitch say yes!" I purse my lips; he used my real name...
"Fine!"
"Alright, let's try to move forward on the good foot forward," Price finally states after a few moments of silence. "Ghost try to be polite." It was more of an order than a suggestion Ghost grunts and folds his arms but gives a slight nod.
Price turns back to the map and back to the missions. We're working with a contractor group Kortac, and all of the task force groaned and looked upset. Soap and Gaz turn to each other a sneer on their face.
"You guys got opts?" I ask.
"Opts?"
"Enemies," Charlie informs them.
"Yeah... We aren't— really friendly with them." Soap mumbles.
"A few of our enemies are in Kortac." Gaz bluntly states.
"Word." They look at me a little confused.
"We're not working with those people; we're working with Colonel König and Horangi." Price states, "We're picking them up in England and making our way to eastern Europe where Makarov is hiding."
"Why are we working with them?"
"Russia wanted their people to keep an eye on us." I nod along, "they don't want us to point fingers at them."
We part ways packing our things and our requirements. I packed my things quickly. I look at my little Alpaca stuffed animal and quickly place it at the very top of my stuff. No one needs to know I have it... besides Charlie. It's old and raggedy, and I needed to get a new one, the soft fur was enticing, and I'm so tempted to buy a real alpaca so I wouldn't have to buy new alpaca stuffed animals all the time. I like soft things. Just feeling something that soft helps me refocus my thoughts.
"Hey," I look over to see Charlie holding my gun.
"Don't touch my gun!" I sneer ripping it from his hands.
"Bro, it's a damn gun—"
"It's mine! Don't touch my things," I growl at him. Sharing is not caring! My things are mine! Charlie's things are also mine; I'll share his things. I do not share my things... not willingly.
"You're not gonna die if I touch it," I pout and glare at him. "It's that or Ghost touch it."
"...Fine." Charlie watches on before pulling out a small notebook and writing a few things down.
"Are you prepared to play babysitter?" Charlie asks as he puts away his little notepad.
"Why?" I look up.
"Did you not see their expressions?"
"I saw," I see people's facial expressions. 80% of the time I can decipher what it means— I just don't know how to react to it. It's easier to act like I don't see shit than to react with an inappropriate response.
"They might be hostile to the newcomers."
"Ok...And?"
"Just don't feed off their hostility, treat them like roaches—"
"Eat them?" Charlie turns to me mouth open and slightly bewildered.
"...What is going on in that little head of yours?" He asks after some time of silence. "... And here I thought you would never to caught off guard again."
"What can I say, I'm fighting the urge to say the most outrageous things to them with zero context."
"... You just want to traumatize them."
"Yes."
ᔕᔕᔕ≼∴≽ᔕᔕᔕ
I looked over to Gaz and Soap, they had visible frowns on their faces. I look to my right to find Price with a slight scowl. I side-eyed Ghost for a second, they all looked tensed. I turn over to Roach though less tense still held the weight of his team. None of them were happy with this idea.
'I'm hungry,' I sign to Charlie.
'You're always a little hungry.' Charlie signs, 'What do you want?'
'Pho,' Charlie stared at me.
'Why?'
'Comfort safe food.'
'It recently changed?' He asks. I shrug. For a while, Chicken nuggets were my comfort food, and still are but less desirable. I wanted something savory. I'm craving noodles.
'I guess.'
'I doubt they're gonna have good Pho in England.'
'Sad.' I sign.
ᔕᔕᔕ≼∴≽ᔕᔕᔕ
Hours past and I ended up falling asleep against Charlie. It was a long flight over 10 hours of silence. This flight wasn't very neurodivergent-friendly, there was nothing— to stimulate my bored mind. The motion sickness didn't help, in all a miserable trip 1/10 would not do again.
"Hey," My eyes flutter open. I looked around trying to figure out who called for me, it was loud— triggering. I almost went back to sleep. "We're here," I feel someone pull me up. I look over to see both Gaz and Soap trying to get both Charlie and me up.
"¡Quítate de mí, idiota!" Charlie grumbles pushing Soap off him. I smack Charlie in the face, and he bolts up, glaring at me.
"What?"
"We're here— Where are we?"
"You two," Soap sighs, and looks over to Gaz, "C'mon get up." The two of us stumble onto our feet dazed and tired.
"You two are not morning people," Gaz chuckles.
"No..." Charlie groans and squints out in the distance. "Spider Monkey here isn't a living fan."
"I— What?"
"Living is hard." Soap side-eyed Gaz, they shared a worried expression watching the two of us stumble around like headless chickens.
"You have to outlive your enemies," Charlie states.
"I need to be there for when their life falls apart."
"We have to gossip."
"What is wrong with you two?" Soap asks folding his arms.
"It's called swing on sight, be the little person, when life gets hard to be dululu." I mumble rubbing my eyes trying to stay awake. I grab onto Charlie's shirt and let him lead me, my eyes hurt too much to see.
"Do you... do you know what she meant?" Soap mutters to Gaz.
"I think she just confessed she's living life on impulsive thoughts." Gaz mumbles, scratching his head.
"You two," We stop and look behind us, "We're going to stay here for a few days before leaving making sure we have a plan."
"Cool."
"You two want to go to a pub?" Soap asks.
"I'm not old enough to drink—"
"The drinking age is 18."
"Sure," Charlie yawns and stretches out his arms and back. I think about it for a second. I have tried alcohol... I don't like it. It's bitter and it burns. That burn is the worst offender, I can overlook the shit taste but that burn... no go.
"No."
"Are you a prude?" Gaz teases, I can tell from his tone it's teasing... I think I'm like... 80% sure.
"No, she just can't stand the burn after alcohol." Charlie sighs.
"How do you know that?" Soap quirks an eyebrow. Charlie looks over with a "really" look.
"I convinced her to try alcohol once..." Charlie giggles, "She's so cute when she thinks you tricked her." I smack him in the head.
"Beer burns less—"
"Not to her."
"She can get one of those fruity drinks." Gaz shrugs.
"No, I've tried one of those, I can still taste the burn." Both Gaz and Soap look at me with shock. They looked at each other sharing a thought.
"It's not that she doesn't want to go, Alcohol and Cigarettes are a no-go, it really triggers her hypersensitivity of her senses." I nod along, it's the autism curse, it robs you of the "traditional" teenager experience. Sometimes you wish to fit in— to be normal.
"Geez..."
"Hurry up," We look over to see Roach and Ghost walking towards us, "We're meeting our future teammates." We nod and start walking after them.
"Is there anything you want to do here?" Soap asks with a smile.
"I want something savory," I confess, mumbling my words in a softer tone.
"You want to try Scottish Meat Pie?" Soap tilts his head jokingly.
"Sure."
"Really?" His eyes widen with a huge grin, a sparkle in his eyes.
"Yeah... Are there onions? I don't like the consistency of onions." I tell him.
"It doesn't taste like anything—"
"Taste has nothing to do with it," I tell both Gaz and Roach looking over to me, "I can feel it crinkle when I bite, it's like the sound of Styrofoam for me. It physically makes me ill." I mutter.
'Autism?' Roach asks. I nod.
We arrive at the open airplane runway to see Price waiting arms folded and staring at a landing Helicopter. Soap and Gaz move forward to stand next to him, while Ghost falls back to the back. He watches on observing the whole situation like a hawk.
Roach stands next to Charlie and me, looking forward. I looked to the sides a few men were unloading some stuff. from the helicopter to the men step out.
An average man, and a demigod. They march forward and stop in front of Price, a curt handshake and their introduction later, Price turns to us.
'He's tall.' I sign to Charlie.
'Tree giant.' I stifle my laughter and look away.
"This is Gisele, our Sniper," I look up to see Price pointing at me. I give a slight wave. the Giant one König, the colonel turns to me and cocks his head to the side. I could see his blue eyes raking me up and down.
"She's the sniper," Is strong German accent comes out in a cocky sneer. His comment snapped me out of my sleepy daze. My face stiffens and goes expressionless. I step forward and look up into his face. I give him a slight smile.
"I'm not impressed." He sneers. I close my eyes and purse my lips.
"She's good—" Soap tries to interject his rage evident in his accent.
"I doubt that." I felt my next tense up, veins popping. My hands fly up and grip him by that stupid hood and yank his face down to my level.
"Listen here, Colonel, I wasn't asked to join by Captain Price..." I state staring into his eyes.
They were crystal blue, like the water of the beaches of Mexico. Clear and stunning. Like the blue skies and sand bars littering a clear blue river.
"You have such pretty, eyes." I calmly state. I could slightly hear him chuckle.
"Can I pluck them out?"