Lilies. They were white lilies, crumpled slightly in the months since they had been placed onto the cold earth. Kneeling down, you placed the pieces of fabric next to the gravestone, slightly discoloured by the weather. The father, the grandfather.
And Zofia Bosak.
Her husband put his hand on your shoulder reassuringly. "You did good, kid. She can rest easy now."
You nodded, but you disagreed. You knew she wouldn't rest, that you wouldn't rest until something was done. You had a mission to finish, a job to get done. People to save. Although it went against your better judgement, and your gut instinct, you'd bring back Ela, for her.
The sound of the chopper starting up pulled you from your thoughts, unclenching your fist. "I'm sorry," was all you could make out - a pitiful goodbye - as you boarded the chopper.
"(Y/N)?" Jäger asked through comms as the helicopter flew away. You were staring at the gravestone, as if letting it out of sight would make the memories disappear. You caught a glimpse of Zofia's husband saluting before the door closed.
"Just get us out of here Marius," Valk answered, looking at the floor. She was cleaning her .50 AE, out of nervousness and perhaps irritation. Clearly she hated funerals.
"13-21 to 20-5, you are clear for take off. Destination, Jersey, Channel Islands. Operation Blind Breach is go," Jäger spoke into his headset.
You slumped down next to Bel. Her eyes were red and swollen due to sleep, stress and other things you were helping her with. You slumped down next to her, devoid of energy. She looked at you, sad, and perhaps a little regretful, before pulling you into a tight hug. Nobody in the chopper said anything, because there was nothing else to be said.
It was a long ride.
***
"Thirteen, twenty-one, twenty, five."
The room was white, blindingly bright and reeked of antispetic. It was a familiar sight - you had been here numerous times.
"It is almost time. The Stag is ready."
Everything was a blur: but it was coming into focus. The disordered colours were binding and splitting and sharpening slowly, patiently.
"Focus on the numbers," the pounding voice told you. "The numbers will tell you what to do."
The image was clear now. You spat pathetically on His White Mask that hid his perfect face, but nothing changed. Brother or not, you hated Him more than anyone.
"The day is almost upon us."
As He spoke, the colours started to blur again, shifting out back out of focus and into the form of a blinding light. It soaked and converted everything in front of you into clean, scalding white.
"What day?" you scowled, trying to avert your gaze from the burning brightness.
"The day of divine betrayel. The day of death."
"D-death?"
"The numbers spell death. Death for the Stag."
"(Y/N)?" Bel asked, gripping your hand, moving her cold fingers over your knuckles.
You groggily opened your eyes, seeing and feeling her piercing gaze stare into your heart. "Just another dream, I... I'm fine."
"You're sweating buckets. Again." She cupped her other hand on your cheek, pulling your face closer. "Tell me."
"The same dream."
"I'd call it a nightmare," she half-smiled. "Look, nothing bad is ever going to happen to you again, now that I'm here beside you, you understand?"
You nodded weakly.
"Say it to me like you mean it." Her face was only an inch or so away from yours, breath on skin.
"I understand."
She leant in and gently kissed you. "I love you."
"Aroha ano ahau ki a koe," you replied, resting your head on her shoulder. Feeling the vibrations from flying. Feeling the dread and pain and guilt in the pit of your stomach.
But also feeling love.
"How long has it been?" she asked softly, after a break of silence.
"Since what?"
"Since you joined Rainbow."
"Months?" you sighed. "Years?"
"If you're about to say something like 'the days pass quicker when I'm with you,' I'm gonna throw you off the chopper," Bel said steely, although you could feel her throat vibrate as she held back a laugh.
"Didn't you just hit me with the 'nothing bad did going to happen to you'?" She was silent for a moment.
"Fuck you."
"Language," you chuckled.
"Fuck you," she repeated, louder, as if to say 'make me shut up'. You just shook your head as you continued to laugh silently for a while.
"(Y/N), you were..." Bel cleared her throat. "I..." She exhaled.
"Hey," you spoke softly sitting up to face her. "What is it?"
Just then, you finally noticed her eyes were swollen and watery. She spoke faintly, "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For being there. For being the key to my locked door."
"It's been my pleasure." You unbuckled your flask and held it up. "Here's to many more days, here with you."
Bel leaned forwards and knocked her head against it. "Cheers."
***
"-back and front, Sledge and Jaeger take the courtyard all by all, they won't expect that, just make sure you get your ADS' set up as soon as the room is cleared. Dokk, stay back in the dunes as overwatch, make sure the lights go out when we drop the hammer. Stag, you're with me at the porch, get that drone operational and drawing their attention away from the rest of us." Meghan paused for a moment. "Artemis? Do what you do."
The clifface stood tall, taller than the statue you had seen in New Zealand. Above, carved into the surface were stone bunkers. Many years ago they held hundreds Nazi soldiers as they occupied this island, waiting for an invasion on mainland Britain that never came. Now, the White Masks patrolled the ancient corridors; a familiar evil to the walls of the grey forts. As you clipped your caribena in, getting ready to rappel, the humor of it all was not even a thought in your mind. Instead, it was overflowing with thoughts of Bel. Happy moments, sad memories, grief, love, loss, joy; all of them at once, as if your brain had subconsciously told you to remember all those things, and remember her, incase you never see her again.
"(Y/N)?" Meghan placed a hand on your shoulder, seeming to read your thoughts. "You know she's going to be okay, right? She's the best f-"
"I know" you muttered, pushing her hand off. "I know."
"Then you know that the both of you are making it out alive." She clipped herself in. "Okay team, I want this to be clean, understood?"
"Yes sir," Marius replied, almost instinctively, before receiving an elbow in the side from Seamus.
"Two operatives lives are in our hands, Jaeger, get your ass on that porch ASAP," Meghan barked at him. He and Seamus both started their ascent. "Dokk, how long do you need?"
Grace didn't even glance up from her tablet. "One minute, maybe one and a half." Her fingers where flying across the screen, and a strand of her hair danced in the seaside wind furiously.
"That's our alarm clock, Stag, let's get up there," Meghan said.
As the you were pulled upwards on the rapel, you locked eyes with Bel. She stood on the ground, ready waiting for a command. You felt as if the heavens had parted and the hand of a greater force was pulling back into the blinding white. It was only when your boot hit the sand covered tufts of grass at the edge of the cliff that you broke the stare.
In contrast with the view from below, the compound at the top was modern, wooden and way too classy for a terrorist groups supposed base of operation. It was square and boxy, and packed with security cameras that currently all sagged down in a blackout state curtosy of Grace. On closer inspection, you could see Marius setting his ADS' in the open plan kitchen, apparently having already cleared out the courtyard. You wondered why they hadn't reported that in, and why it was so quiet.
You noticed Meghan was tapping her ear and looking at you. The coms weren't on.
Must be some sort of jammer, you thought. Thought only Rainbow had that level of technology.
You didn't even try to open the door, you knew it was locked anyway. Instead, you took notice of the transparent catflap attached to it. Slotting your drone in, you whipped out your phone and started scanning the room.
"Any eyes on?" Meghan whispered, turning the safety off on her MPX and standing next to one of the large glass windows.
"Only one." you replied. "On the top of the staircase, he's peeking your window."
You turned your drone to the right.
"There's a barricaded door, could be hostage location. No more OPFOR on ground level, Jaeger and Sledge have kitchen secure."
"I don't like it when they're quiet," you heard her say under her breath.
On your drone, you saw Artemis exit from a room on the third floor and give your drone a thumbs up.
"Top floor's clear."
Suddenly, the White Mask on the stairs began to move down, slowly and quietly, aiming his gun at Seamus, who was coming out from the kitchen. Shit!
You panicked and detonated the drone, hoping to create a distraction.
"Get down!" you yelled to him, but he couldn't here you.
Marius seemed to have got the message as he pulled Seamuz back into the kitchen as Meghan peeked out from the window and emptied a burst into him.
"Geez," you muttered to yourself, climbing through the now shattered window.
"Why the fuck are the coms down?" Marius hissed quietly as you all met up outside the barricaded door.
"Maybe they've got a jammer," Meghan suggested. "Let's just focus up and get this open. Seamus?"
He nodded. You could feel the weight on your shoulders start to ease as he swung the hammer, the burden of concern starting to lift. Everything was going to be okay. Mark was coming home.
The barricaded wood fell apart like a children's toy on the first blow. A cloud of dust rose up. It swirled for a moment, like desert sands in the wind, then settled.
On the other side, you saw her. Ela. She leant against a metal desk. She had no binds. She was smiling.
Author's Note
I'm sorry this took so long, I just didn't want writing to feel like a chore to me. I lost passion for the game, and for writing, but now I'm back, ready to finish it. The next chapter will be the last. I hope you enjoy it.