You felt as if your heart could burst. It thudded so loudly you were sure others could hear the pulse in your ears.
It will be a simple mission, he'd told you.
There wouldn't be a threat of anything too deadly- nothing that you couldn't handle.
Lies.
You jumped over a long stretch of old, rusty piping running through the favela. The group of soldiers behind you followed, winded yet still chasing. You ducked underneath a lower, crumpled wall, making sure to clutch a piece of it as you slid through.
As you escaped underneath it, the wall let out a groan and crumbled into pieces. The men were stuck behind the rubble, letting out curses in their language. You slowed only slightly, driving your course more to the left in order to make it to the plains just outside the village.
You slid to a stop when you spotted a humanly figure dressed in darker clothing creeping through the maze of buildings and rubbish. The soldier saw you at the same time, his body freezing into a stance of defensiveness, mask painted with white facing you.
You suddenly realized who the soldier was. Not one who belonged to the gang leader in this large favela, not one of Makarov's soldiers sent to aid you. Oh no. This was another soldier you didn't trust.
"Task Force," you hissed.
There was crashing behind you and you looked over your shoulder to see the shadows of the group original after you chasing once more. You looked between the other enemy soldier and a gap where you could possibly hide.
Deciding against it, you took off towards the masked figure. They held their automatic rifle up yet you pushed on, butting their own weapon into their shoulder harder than shooting it would've. You heard a grunt and then a curse.
"Come back!"
You leapt up the side of a shorter building using boxes, glancing back to see that the American soldier had kept going straight in order to find a way around. The group of favela soldiers, on the other hand, leapt up onto building across from you, shooting their weapons.
Bullets whizzed past your loose hairs of your tied up hair. You jumped across building after building, jumping down levels and aiming for a river in the distance. If you could reach the plains and sprint for it out there, then maybe you could reach the river and escape that way.
Swimming was your strong suit after all.
Your tunnel vision didn't let you notice the dark figure coming at you from the left. As you turned your head to face the incoming force, you went to jump over a shorter gap. The arms of the Task Force soldier wrapped around you, bringing you both out of midair and down a story to the dusty ground.
You let out a scream when your side clenched to the fall, signalling you had broken a rib or two from the uneven ground. The soldier was getting his bearings together, grunting from the heavy fall. You crawled and attacked him, clutching onto his vest to attempt and set off a grenade.
He grasped your hands, you slapped. He pinned your wrists, you kicked his groin.
"Damn you!"
"Let go of me," you hissed, giving up when the British man had a knife to your throat and your hands caught between his inner arm and rib cage. "They're going to kill us both!"
"Why are you here?"
"Let go!" you shouted, trying to spin around but the knife came tighter to your throat.
The shouts of favela men became louder as they closed in on you and the soldier. You used the distracting sound to slip out of the soldiers grip. He grasped your ankle as you crawled away and yanked- hard.
You wailed out in pain, a warm and fuzzy feeling entering your ankle.
"Now-"
The soldier was caught off as the soldiers of the abandoned slum circled you both. You spun to your back and sat up on your rump even though it felt like hell was literally burning through your side.
The leader of the pursuit group spoke something to the others and then held up a hand directed towards you and the unknown soldier. You let out a moan of pain when a rugged man plucked you from your spot and shoved you towards a parked car in the distance.
You heard the American give a little fight. A few punches from the favela soldiers and he stopped, barely allowing them to lead him after you.
When you reached the old car, the man seizing you opened a back door and shoved you inside. Your right side pinched, something shifting once more, and you let out a squeak of pain. It didn't help that they shoved the Task Force soldier on top of you.
He struggled to get off, pressing just slightly on your side in order to sit up straight.
You kicked him off of you, scooting to the far side of the vehicle and holding your side. He gripped the bars separating the front seat from the back and a passenger in the front smacked his hands with a type of baton.
"Fuck you!" the soldier swore and you panted out to glare at him as the car started moving.
"This is your fault!"
"My fault?" the soldier looked at me, nothing but a white ghost-like face on the mask he wore.
"If you wouldn't have stopped me, I'd be swimming down that river in freedom right now!"
"That never could've happened," he hissed out. "You didn't have enough time to cover that much distance without being shot dead!"
"I could have made it!"
You stared daggers at the side of his face as he looked forwards with what sounded like a huff of annoyance and amusement. With a groan of frustration, you gingerly crossed your arms and looked out to the open part of the earth around the village- mostly open with very few trees.
The soldier spoke something to the men in the front seat. The passenger glared at him and spat something curt back.
"Shit," the soldier sat back, looking out of his window.
"What did you ask them?" you swallowed, angry at yourself for talking to an enemy.
"Where we were going," the soldier didn't move his head. "He said to their boss' hideout."
"Great," you mumbled, sighing.
The passenger suddenly turned in the seat to face the two of you. He held up a hand, a cylinder enclosed inside his grasp. You widened your eyes when you realized that it was a chemical spray.
"You mother-"
You coughed when the favela soldier sprayed the orange-colored particles in your face. The Task Force member next to you got tagged as well. You felt dizzy, your upper half swaying to the side the gave you pain.
A strong hand leaned you up against the door in a more comfortable way and you groaned, trying to shrug it off. The hand went limp and slid down your side.
Then you blacked out.
~~~
When you woke up hours later, your senses came back quickly. There was nothing but a light bulb above you, shining in a circle about six yards in diameter. Your ankles were chained and so were your wrists. One side of your body, the left, was just attached to the floor. The other...
Your gaze followed the short chain to the darkly dressed body lying nearby. Your nose turned up and you shifted away in the chains. They didn't let you go far; your wrist and ankle snapped back towards the limp body with a force that hurt your shoulder.
"Dammit," you hissed.
Your free hand that wasn't connected to the Task Force soldier touched your side. You let out another hiss of pain and looked down. There was a bit of semi-soaked clothing from blood and the entire area was swollen from not only bruising yet your body's defense.
You gritted your teeth when you shifted to rest back down- the only comfortable position.
A grunt sounded from your right and you moved back up, your head tilting to look over at the Task Force soldier coming to. He rubbed his face, free of his mask.
You eyed his jaw, a scar running across it, and the dark scruff that covered it. He bore blue eyes, crystal-like even in the dim light, that stared back at you like a thousand arrows getting ready to tag a target. His hair was ruffled from his mask being thrown off and you found yourself almost reaching to fix your own.
As if realizing how long the two of you stared at each other, the soldier coughed and moved his gaze to your side. You covered the stained section and glared at him.
"How's your side?"
"Doesn't matter."
"Oh?"
"You shouldn't care," you growled, shifting to sit more evenly.
Before the man could reply an iron door screeched open, blaring light towards the two of you in the hot room. A man, looking to be a favela soldier, shined a flashlight on both of you and smirked.
"Your awake now, eh?" his English was strikingly perfect.
"What do you want from us?" you demanded, wiggling and pulling the Task Force soldier's arm forwards.
"I'm not sure the boss would like me to tell," the man shrugged. "He'll be back in a few days to deal with you then."
"Let us go!" you demanded.
"Can't do that."
"I can pay you," you pressed, "a lot of money."
Especially after I kill Makarov and take everything he has to call his.
Your thoughts made you chew on the inside of your cheek in an unusual excitement. You couldn't wait to get revenge on the man who'd left you to die in this favela- if you were still in the one you'd been in before.
The burly man let out a deep, radiating laugh. "Money won't give me anything."
"Freedom?" you questioned and saw his smile falter only slightly. "A chance to get away from the man who I know controls your life."
"You know nothing of my life."
"No?" you cocked your head. "I've only studied all of your lives from a distance this last week. I've only seen how he treats you, how he treats your family, how your boss-"
"Enough," the man stepped forwards, reaching to slap me.
"You think I'm scared?"
He leaned closer. "You should be."
You spat at his darker face, earning a growl and then a hard slap to the jaw. You barely moved from the impact, tightening your jaw muscles in order to hide the pain the smack had caused you. The man backed away towards the door.
"You're going to be in here a long time," he hissed over his shoulder. "I suggest you watch your attitude if you want to be fed and watered in that time."
You cursed at him after the door closed.
The soldier was staring in your direction in a ghostly silence and you whipped around to face him.
"What are you staring at?"
"You aren't very smart."
"Oh?" you lifted your lip in hostility.
"To get us out of here, you have to work with them to a point."
"I get what I want by force," you argued. "And there isn't an 'us.' Do you hear?"
"The only way you're getting out is with my help."
"I've gotten out before."
"You've been caught?"
"It's what I do for Makarov- get caught and get information."
The soldier was silent for a moment. "That doesn't sound fair."
"It seemed like it was for a while," you found yourself spilling your guts. "Then he left me to die just a week ago."
The soldier almost seemed to frown. "Unfortunate. A soldier like you could come in handy. I'd keep you well-protected or-"
"I don't need protection!" you snapped and then relaxed in your chains only to a small extent. "I'm sorry, I'm just-"
"On edge?"
"Yeah," you crossed your legs and rested your elbows on them in order to hang your chin. "So who are you, what's your name?"
"I won't reveal-"
"Code-name, then?"
"Ghost."
"Makes sense with the mask," you smirked.
Ghost made a hum of agreement, picking at the chain in boredom. "And you, what's your name?"
"Y/N," you blinked away when he looked to you.
He opened his mouth to speak once more but the door opened again, painfully bright light returning.
It was a small woman carrying a tray of what looked like extremely dry bread and cups of water. You eyed her as she knelt, setting down the tray without a sound. A guard stood by the door, his back to you three.
"Hey," you reached out to touch her hand and she flinched in fear. "I won't hurt you."
Her brown eyes leveled to meet yours and then she looked secretively towards Ghost, who gazed back with an expression that looked like an attempt to seem friendly. You squeezed her hand.
"If you help us," you whispered, "I promise I will give you the best life for you and your family and anyone else."
"I-I can't," she whispered in rough English. "He'll punish me."
"He won't suspect anything."
The woman drew away and stood. "Sorry."
The door shut shortly after she exited the room.
You cursed and kicked out. Ghost clutched your ankle and you glared at him.
"Don't kick the water."
"Right," you hissed and pulled away. "It's most likely piss from their pigs. Have fun drinking that."
Ghost gazed at you and then took a sip of the liquid in the cup. He licked his lips in bliss and took another sip. You glared at the pitcher full of the water and turned your back.
~~~
"Tell me where he placed that mine!"
"No!" you argued, staring up at the large black man in hatred.
Your split lip bled heavily already and your side throbbed from being poked at by the soldier's rifle end. Yet you persisted in resisting the questions of the favela soldier.
"Your life would be so much easier-"
"Fuck you! Go to hell!"
The black, oval shape of the butt of his rifle entered the corner of your vision as the soldier brought it harshly to your cheek. You flew to the side, landing next to a silent, frozen Ghost.
The black man stepped forwards, beginning to hit you once again, and you cowered low. Your cheek throbbed and you swore half of your face wasn't there.
"Don't," Ghost spoke lowly.
Your head spun and you blacked out multiple times. Your groans were almost the squeak of a mouse compared to the loud words spoken between Ghost and the soldier. You couldn't quite understand their words- the ringing in your head was too loud.
You mostly came to when Ghost clutched your shoulders, glaring at the closing door.
"Y/N!"
You groaned.
"Your cheek," Ghost stroked a thumb over the tender area and you firmly snapped away.
"Don't touch me."
Ghost ignored your fight and clutched you closer once more. He narrowed his eyes, hard steel compared to the frozen, breakable ice from earlier. You closed your eyes, feeling a damp piece of clothing touch your cheekbone, close to your eye.
When you opened your eyes, vision improving, Ghost was squeezing bloody water from the sleeve of his t-shirt, part of it running down his muscular bicep. You slouched, finding your shoulder blades resting against his.
"Y/N?"
"I'm okay, I think."
Ghost muttered something under his breath and then twisted around so he could dab at your face once more. You limply fell against his abdomen and he made a gurgled sound as if you'd clutched his throat.
"Y/N, get up."
You blacked out once again, hearing nothing and seeing even less in a matter of seconds.
~~~
The first sense that came to you was touch. Your sensitive skin cells told you that something was running across your chin and then up to your hairline. A childish part of you thought it was a spider and you shifted. The something pulled away only to touch a numb cheek that belonged to you.
"Y/N?"
Your eyes stuttered open, taking a moment to fix their fuzziness and focus on the dim light bulb above you. You then shifted your gaze to Ghost, who leaned over you with a concerned crease in his brow.
You quickly realized where you were resting and tried to sit up. "Did you drag me on your lap?"
"No, you passed out onto it," Ghost narrowed his gaze.
"Why didn't you move me?"
If something like that ever would've happened with Makarov, you would've been thrown to the floor or smacked back awake.
"Because you looked...like you were finally resting for once."
You were half sitting up and half leaning on his propped up thigh. "How long was I out?"
"A few hours."
You breathed a sigh of relief.
"That woman came in to give us food again," Ghost paused. "She also hid something else on the plate."
"Oh?" you blinked and focused on the three round pills in his held out palm.
"Tylenol."
You scraped the little objects onto your hand and chucked them into your mouth. Ghost's hand came down to rest on your thigh, your hand resting nearby. You gazed at the two wrists, both cuffed and attached to each other.
"Thank you for trying to help."
"I wish I could do more," Ghost looked to my stained side. "That doesn't look well."
"Doesn't feel it either."
"When we get out of here, you are getting proper medical attention."
"Oh?"
"I'll make sure of it."
You almost laughed. "If that door opens up and I'm free to go, you won't ever see me again Ghost."
"There's a reason why they call me Ghost."
"Oh?" you found one of your hands had wound up resting on the lower part of his neck.
"I'll find you no matter what and you'll never see me coming."
You studied his gaze, looking between the two calm ocean blue waves. "Why aren't you against me like everyone else is?"
"Against you?"
"Why are you kind, giving? Everything I've heard of the Task Force 141 hasn't been anything close to what you are and how you act."
Ghost stiffened and then rested his other hand on yours, clutching his shoulder as well. "We have a switch. Turned on, we're the soldiers you've probably been described. Turned off, we're like normal human beings with feelings and character."
You tilted your head, watching as he removed your hand from his shoulder. He used the hand resting on your thigh to flip you around off him. You almost let out a sound of protest, yet the screeching door caught you off guard.
The woman snuck in, a blank look on her face as she gathered up the tray and bowls to take them away for the evening. The usual guard was talking to another to the side of the open door- voices not figures seen.
"You forgot this one," Ghost reached behind him, in your view not the woman's, and pretended to grab something.
The woman came close, crouching down.
In shock, you watched as Ghost clutched the woman's chin and smashed their lips together. Your gut clenched, twisting into a pit of...was it jealousy? How the fuck was that even possible? No, it wasn't jealousy. Maybe, possibly, but your entire being denied it.
"Do me a favor, love, and get me a key," Ghost whispered against the small woman's neck.
She nodded, pulling one from her apron.
"Now, distract those guards for me so I can get us all out of here."
"But-"
Ghost silenced her with another short kiss that made you clench a fist. "Please."
The woman swayed to her feet, exiting the room and disappearing behind the door as it shut. Ghost turned, using the key to wiggle the locked chains apart. You felt the chain around your ankle release.
"You, you-"
Ghost glanced to you as he went for the cuffs tying the two of you together. "What?"
"You weren't kidding about the switch."
Ghost let out a chuckle and wiggled the lock. He let out an annoyed grunt shortly after.
"What?"
"This key won't unlock these."
"Fuck."
"Looks like we really are getting out together."
You thought of ways you could get away and escape without him. It went from cutting the chain to killing Ghost and back again. There wasn't any sort of option to drag his larger body and get away without being caught or killed.
Surely you had to kill him once the two of you got to safety.
"Follow me," you darted for the door, jerking his hand forwards.
You peeked out, seeing the woman distracting the two guards with a seductive dance. She glanced your way and then you dipped your head, sneaking out the opposite direction. Ghost followed close behind- not that he had a choice really- and made less sound than you.
"There has to be a car around here somewhere," you whispered, your eyes landing on a couple of them parked across a narrow alley of the town.
"That will make too much noi-"
"We can get away faster than on foot," you argued, glaring defiantly over your shoulder.
Ghost didn't say anything yet instead looked back to where the guards were hidden from your view. His eyes widened and he rushed forwards, shoving you along with.
"What-"
"They're looking inside the shack!"
You began to run for the car, Ghost right next to you. Right then you wondered how getting into the car was going to work. Since the two of you were cuffed, that would make things quite difficult.
"Wait, how-"
You were cut off as a small object was thrown directly in front of you. The trained Y/N hesitated, yet the instinctive one who wanted to get away continued to run. It didn't take you more than a step towards the thing flying in mid-air for you to realize what you were going to do to yourself.
You cursed when your entire world blew up in a white fuzz. Ears ringing, you used your other hand to reach for Ghost who had barely escaped another flashbang. When your blind hand touched his shoulder, he gripped your chained hand and drug you forwards.
"I have you, I promise!"
You didn't know what direction Ghost had taken or if he was even aiming for the cars at this point. Since you couldn't see and Ghost was the only person you trusted in the entire favela, you allowed him to lead you across the village while avoiding bullets.
"Fuck, my side," you panted, feeling a bullet whizz past your damaged ribcage.
Ghost continued running, yet twisted you around so that you were hanging over his arms in a bride-like carry. You groaned to the imagined smirk on his lips and shifted to try to see around you.
Most of the world was still white, yet your ears had begun to stop ringing. You saw the dim figure of a vehicle and the driver door as it opened. Ghost tossed you to the side, making your side crunch in a sickening way.
You coughed, feeling a warm trickle of blood on your lower lip, and sat up straight in the seat. You braced your body with a hand on the dash and held your reopened wound with the other while Ghost tactfully jump started the car.
"Hang on!"
"What do you think..." you swallowed the pain that your words caused, "I'm doing?"
Ghost drove through the alleys, heading a direction you guessed was south. You bounced in your seat, letting out groans to each turn and bump that made your internal pain worse.
"Hang in there, Y/N!"
"Trying!" you hissed.
The ride suddenly became smoother as the car exited the favela. Ghost hammered the gas, speeding the peppy old car to a solid speed. You guessed by the amount of wind seeping through your open window that it had to be close to ninety miles an hour.
"They're giving up," Ghost breathed and you felt the car slow.
Your vision was still fuzzy and you shook your head to clear the clouds covering it. Nothing worked.
"The flashbang hit you straight on, you won't see for a while."
"I know," you yelled, looking down at your open palms. "Anything is worth a shot now."
"This thing has a radio."
"Don't all cars?"
"Not that type," Ghost lifted something, looking like a blur of pastel-painted colors. "We can contact people."
"Mak-" you stopped yourself, biting your lower lip.
"What?" Ghost demanded.
"Make sure you hold down the button," you fixed yourself. "I've seen people forget before."
Ghost almost chuckled, letting out a small huff instead. "Don't worry."
You sighed and leaned back against the seat, feeling more blood than ever before burst from your side. Ghost made murmurs into the radio and you found your ears blurring his voice out.
"Y/N?"
Feeling a cool hand rest against your forehead, you shifted to the middle of the car. Ghost moved his hand to your neck where he felt your rapid and uneven pulse.
"Fuck," he growled. "You need medical attention."
"No...shit," you breathed.
"Ghost? Come in Ghost?"
"I'm here, Soap," Ghost replied to the radio, snapping away from you.
"Christ, we've been searching all over!"
"I need a ride ASAP."
"We're already on our way, we see your heat signature."
"Good," Ghost touched your forehead as he slowed the car.
"One more thing," the voice came in once more. "Who the hell is with you?"
~~~
"Y/N?"
You heard a familiar voice when you came to and you merely shifted to show that you'd heard. your eyes fluttered open and you came face to face with the mask of a soldier. His eyes were barely visible in the dim light and you squinted to make them clearer.
"You're awake, good."
"W-Where am I?" you turned your head, breathing deeply. "Wh-Where's Ghost?"
The man slipped off his mask, revealing sea blue eyes and dark scruff with a single scar going along his jaw. You weakly smiled.
"Of course."
Ghost touched your wrist. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got ran over by a truck."
"Better than a train."
"I'd rather be dead on impact honestly," you made Ghost crack a tiny smile.
You looked downwards, seeing your body covered in blankets from a doctor. Your hand slid down to touch your covered side, sore and tender.
"You had three broken ribs," Ghost spoke slowly. "One of them scratched your lung. You're lucky to be alive."
You sighed out. "Makarov, does he...know where I'm at?"
"No," Ghost replied simply.
"Okay."
"I'll leave you to rest," Ghost whispered, touching your forehead and backing away.
As he reached the door, he turned back around to look at you. You met his worried gaze.
"When you feel better, you have all the freedom to return to him if you wish."
You thought about all the things Ghost had said and done. He'd kept you alive and prevented you from being beat to death. He'd given nothing but his true, raw and passionate heart towards you- a gift that couldn't be denied.
"I don't know," you swallowed stiffly. "You kinda got my attention when you spoke about switches."
Ghost smirked. "You want to stay?"
"I don't know, I'm a pretty rowdy roommate," you admitted. "Last group couldn't handle me."
Ghost chuckled. "I was chained to you for two days. I'm pretty sure I could handle you."
You smiled. "Do you mind if I stay a while?"
"Not at all, Y/N," Ghost opened the door, stepping through it to leave you. "Not at all."
~~~
Okay, so like obviously I died and came back to life. I'm SO SORRY for not updating in like a month. There has been so much going on and I lost my touch with writing for a bit. I hope to myself that I'm back now!
Hope you enjoyed the extra long, unedited update to make up for my absence (kinda). I hope to update a couple of times off schedule to get back into things. Don't forget to remind me of requests that I may have forgotten, I've been a little sidetracked lately and it's been hard to remember where I left off with EVERYTHING.
Anyhoo, hope you lovelies had an amazing weekend! ;)
I'm so upset at myself for not being able to update for you all...
~MS~