That same morning, you were exhausted, the thoughts still lingering from the way you thought of Graves. You did everything to avoid seeing him, any small sign of him in the area, and you would tuck your tail and run. How could you face someone, especially one of your superiors, after thinking of them like that?
Soap didn't exactly help with your sleep deprivation, only giving you about another hour of sleep before waking you up and asking if you wanted to walk to breakfast with him. You accepted, but when you went to clean yourself up in the bathroom, you started to notice bags forming under your eyes. The lack of sleep wasn't helping. But maybe some of the other soldiers were struggling to sleep, and it wasn't just a you problem. But most of those other soldiers probably weren't hoping that Graves would show up at their door and make them feel a way they haven't in years. The thought of it had a slight blush forming on your cheeks. You quickly splashed water on your face and watched in the mirror as the water dripped off. You grabbed the hand towel next to the sink and patted your face dry. Letting out a sigh, you straightened yourself up, throwing your hair into a bun and changing out of the clothes you wore last night. You walked out of the bathroom, saving your shower for after breakfast, meeting Soap out in the hall.
"Does it always take you this long to wake yourself up in the mornings?" he teased after you shut the door behind you, receiving an irritated glare from you. He chuckled, seeing the irritation on your face, "I'll take that as a maybe."
You rolled your eyes, "No, I just got distracted and lost in thought." You crossed your arms as the two of you started to walk, "Have there been any new updates from Price or Laswell if we'll be going back out into the field anytime soon?" This was obviously a quick way of changing the subject before Soap had any time to dig into it and ask more questions, and it seemed to have worked.
"Already up and willing to work, I see," he said with a soft chuckle, "Yeah tomorrow, but you're not going out there with us."
Your head jerked over to look at him, "What? What the hell do you mean I'm not going?" Your eyes were narrowed almost like daggers digging into Soap as you waited for an answer.
He held his hands up defensively when he saw the way you were looking at him, "Woah there, lass. After Price learned of your little injury, you got back on the last one. He wanted you to stay back and rest for a little while. He just doesn't want you to fall behind and potentially end up in an even worse condition."
"Why are you the one telling me this? Why haven't I heard a single thing from Price?" You placed your hand on your hip as you continued to walk to the canteen, trying to hide your anger and frustration.
He shrugged his shoulders, "You know how the Captain is. He's always busy. Just follow his orders. It's for the better."
You let out a frustrated sigh, "It's not even that bad anymore," you complained under your breath.
He laughed, "Oh, come on, your legs are black and blue like the deepest parts of the ocean. You can keep lying to yourself, but you know the Captain is right." He lightly nudged your shoulder as he walked next to you.
You sighed as you looked down at the ground, "It doesn't hurt. My legs are just bruised, it's not like I'm missing my entire fucking leg." You slipped your hands into your pockets as you looked ahead, "Can I at least know who you're going on the mission with?"
He raised a brow as he looked over at you, "Hm? Has anyone ever told you that you ask a lot of questions?" His head tilted to the side, looking at you like a curious child, "Just the usual. Ghost, Alejandro, Rudy, and air support from Graves and his Shadows."
There it was, the name you weren't in the mood to hear right now. You could feel your face becoming flushed with color, you quickly nodded and blocked your face with your arm, pretending like you had to rub your forehead to release tension from an oncoming headache. Soap gave you a confused expression as he watched you before quickly turning into the canteen. Both of you quickly hopped in line and grabbed breakfast taking a seat with Ghost who was already halfway done with his food.
Ghost eyes immediately fell on you as you sat in front of him, "You look rough," his tone was blunt as he slipped his mask back over his mouth.
Soap stifled a laugh as your eyes met Ghost's, "Nice of you to make my morning, Ghost." You stated as you began to poke and prod at the breakfast burrito on your plate.
He shrugged his shoulders as he looked over to Soap, "I can see you told Y/N about the mission. That's the most pissed I've seen her since she got here."
"I am sitting right here, asshole," You snapped at him before taking a bite of your burrito.
Soap let out a laugh, "Yeah, and she about killed me when I told her. We might need Alejandro to keep a couple of Los Vaqueros posted here to make sure she doesn't sneak off and go rogue." He joked as he shoveled some scrambled eggs into his mouth.
You felt your phone vibrate in your pocket but shrugged it off as you continued to eat and listen to Soap and Ghost's conversation. It didn't take long for you to finish your food, but it took you longer to realize that Gaz hadn't joined the three of you. You perked your head up to look around at the other soldiers eating to see if you could notice him anywhere. There weren't any signs of him. You wiped your hands clean and cleared your throat before speaking up, "Where is Gaz? He was here the other morning."
Ghost glanced at you before looking back over to Johnny, "Price needed him for something," he quickly replied before continuing his conversation.
You shrugged off the thought and got lost in thought again, crossing your arm and leaning forward on the table. You hadn't noticed but Soap had left after about five minutes leaving you alone with Ghost, his eyes drilling into and he snapped you out of your daydreaming. Trying to casually brush it off as if you were always vigilant, "Can I help you?" You asked as you slowly looked over at him.
"If you want to go on this mission, you know you have to beg Price and prove to him you can get back to work." His gruff voice seemed to boom over the other soldiers' chatter as if you were the only two in the room.
You sighed as you tilted your head back a bit, "Trust me... I know." You groaned as you rubbed your forehead, "I just want to know why I wasn't the one he spoke to."
Ghost chuckled at your aggravation, "The only way Price knew you were all bruised and battered is because Soap ran his mouth while we were having a mission briefing during your little visit to the medical center."
You pinched the bridge of your nose as you leaned forward, "Of course he did," you mumbled under your breath.
"Good luck talking to Price. I know you'll tear him a new one if he denies you." You could he had a smirk or smile on his face as the cloth around his mouth twitched. Ghost stood up from his seat, grabbing his empty plate, "I'll see you around, Hawk," he told you before leaving you alone at the table. For someone who seemed to only have a soft spot for Soap, Ghost seemed like he wanted to help you out when you were in any situation.
You buried your head in your hands and let out a sigh, dread overcoming you. The last time you had seen Price to talk one-on-one, he had shown you documents that resurrected old memories that seemed better to be locked away. He was the reason you were far away from your home base and your best friend. But now you needed to go and potentially fight with him to allow you to go back out into the field. You stayed in the canteen for a bit longer before getting up and walking out.
The halls were mostly empty, only walking past a couple of soldiers here and there. Some belong to Los Vaqueros and others from Shadow Company. Price had a temporary office set up on base, and finding it would be the most complex part of it. From what Soap had described to you, it was closer to Graves' office in a separate building. The moment you took a step outside, a quick breeze brushed against you and made you quickly relax. It took some time, but after wandering around for what seemed like an hour you found the right building, and after some help from other soldiers you found Price's office. You stood in front of his door and let out a sigh as you knocked.
You could hear the slight sound of a desk drawer closing and him clearing his throat, "Come in." As you opened the door to his office a smile appeared on his face, "Ah, if it isn't my favorite Sergeant, don't tell Soap I said that," he said with a light chuckle, "Take a seat, what can I do you for Y/N?"
You took a seat in front of his desk and crossed one leg over the other, "I promise I won't tell Soap. But I'm not here to discuss who's your favorite Sergeant." You crossed your arms and pressed them against your chest, "I'm pretty sure you know why I'm here, Captain."
His smile faltered, "Yes, I could see this meeting coming from a mile away." I leaned forward on his desk, his desk lamp illuminating more of his face, "You are a talented fighter and soldier but, I also want to make sure my soldiers are at their best. You're just not at your best right now."
You cut him off before he could say anything else, "I'm not willing to waste your time, I am at my best right now, sir. A simple bruise will not affect my ability to be the soldier you chose to work alongside your team."
He sighed, "Hard-headed as ever. Look, Y/N, I understand you want to be out there working with the boys, but I don't want you to go home having to ice every spot on your body. Just listen to me this time and stay here."
"Captain, I will prove to you that I can be sent back out into the field. You wanted me here, I refuse to let anything happen to your team when I could be there to help if anything goes wrong." You leaned forward, placing your crossed arms on your knee and narrowing your eyes at him. "Let me prove myself to you that I'm just as capable as the rest of them."
He rubbed his temples as he leaned back in his chair, pulling a cigar out of his desk drawer, and lighting it. He took a dag of the cigar and blew out a puff of smoke before he spoke, "I will allow you to go only if you can prove that you are physically able to work just like you could before," he took another drag from the cigar, "you'll be supervised under Commander Philip Graves. Since he will be watching over the entire team on this mission, he will be the one reporting back if you are in the right conditions to work again."
You leaned back in your chair as your eyes widened a bit, "Commander Graves? Are you sure there isn't anyone else who could clear me for work?"
He flicked the ash into an ashtray placed on the corner of his desk, "I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself like you wanted. If you have a problem with who I'm assigning to overwatch you, you can stay on base. Is that understood?" His brow furrowed as he eyed you.
"I understand," your voice trailed off as you straightened your posture, "thank you for your time, Captain." You stood up from your seat and started to walk towards the door.
As you placed your hand on the doorknob he cleared his throat, "Whatever your reason for not wanting Graves as your observer, I need you to get past that and learn to work with him. Even if it's personal or not." He took a long drag from the cigar and blew a puff of smoke out that seemed to float around like a cloud in the sky, "Good luck, Y/N."
You nodded and waited a moment before you spoke, "Yes sir." You left his office and closed the door behind you, letting out an agitated sigh. Of course, the one person that you had hate to see after what happened last night was the one who would clear you. Knowing the way he had treated you for the brief and short times you had spoken to him, he wasn't going to make this easy for you. After leaving the building you stepped back outside, the day seemed to have passed a lot quicker than expected, as it was already around noon. You decided it would be best for you to head back to your room and take the shower you were saving for later.
As soon as you walked back into the room, Soap was sitting on his bed, his head turning to look at you as you walked into the room, "So... how did everything go with Price?"
"I wouldn't have had to go speak with him if a certain someone didn't run his mouth." You eyed him as you narrowed your eyes at him, "Now I have to prove that I can even go and work with ya'll tomorrow. Graves has to give me clearance before I can even do anything."
A grin spread across his face, "You mean the Commander I always see you arguing with since you got here? That'll be fun." He sat up on his bed and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, "You should be fine, you seem like you're competent enough."
You rolled your eyes, "Whatever. I'm going to take a shower before I get dragged away to get tormented by Graves."
Soap snickered as he saw you roll your eyes, "Okay, I'll be heading out with Ghost to work out at the gym, you have fun jumping through hurdles for him."
A groan escaped you as you grabbed a change of clothes, "Go fuck yourself." You heard the door open and close with a chuckle soon following after. You walked into the bathroom, and as you let your hair down you checked your phone to see if you missed anything. You noticed a notification from Josh that was sent at 09:34. It was earlier than most of the other messages he would usually send you, you opened it and your eyes widened.
Message from; Josh
Y/N you won't believe this
Price is finally letting me come to Mexico to work with you
I'm rooming with a soldier who works for Shadow Company named Vincent
Text me back whenever you see this
A smile quickly spread across your face, it hadn't been that long since you had seen Josh, but finally getting to work alongside him again and be the duo that you had always been felt amazing. You wouldn't be staying together like normal, but being able to see him in person every day would make this entire place less boring.
Message from; Y/N
Holy shit!
That's amazing news, when will you be coming here? I'm already dying to see you again.
You had sent him the quick message and then hopped into the shower, taking your time to relax from your excitement of Josh's arrival and the nervousness of working with the Commander that you had dreamed of this morning. The shower took a lot longer than expected, as you waited steam from your shower to die down, you changed into your usual pair of cargo pants and your only clean shirt at the moment was a black compression t-shirt you had bought ages ago. You wiped at the mirror so you could see your reflection to fix up your hair. While you were getting ready you could hear a knock at the door, as you were finishing up you yelled towards the door, "It's unlocked, come in."
You heard the door open and close, followed by the sound of boots tapping across the wooden floor. In the small part of the mirror you wiped off you could the familiar face watching you, "Well, well, out of all the people I have to watch, who would have thought it would be you." His country accent made you groan as he spoke.
You glanced over at him as he leaned against the bathroom's doorway, "Don't you know what privacy is?"
"You had the bathroom door open and told me to come in. Plus you're dressed, and look like you're ready to go." He crossed his arms as he watched you put your hair back into a bun, "We have plenty of daylight, let's not waste it by tryin' to look pretty, sweetheart."
You rolled your eyes, "I would rather have anyone else to be doing this with, trust me. If I have to deal with your snarky remarks the entire time, this might not be worth it and I might just decide to stay here."
"Oh come on, you would miss having the chance to talk to me the entire mission. Let's just go get this over with, I don't have all day." He turned around and you could hear the door open and close again. You placed your stuff back on the bathroom counter and groaned as you looked at yourself in the mirror. You walked out into the hall to see Graves with that smug grin you wanted to punch off his face.
As you narrowed your eyes as you looked up at him and crossed your arms, "Let's speed this up."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope ya'll are ready for an entire chapter dedicated to Y/N and Graves' interactions, it's been a long time coming, but I have you keep ya'll coming back for more.
How do we think of Ghost's soft side towards Y/N? Usually, you only see his softer side in Ghost x Readers, but never in anything else. I just feel like Ghost would be the type of person to only want to protect those who know need protection but won't accept it. I don't know, that's just me.
Hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter like normal, and I'm excited for everyone to read chapter eleven when it releases next week.
Also, how is every liking the new battle pass, another season without a Graves skin or bundle in the store. Graves enjoyers are at another loss for skins.