Ghosts Broken Mask

49 - Losing game

It's been at least two weeks since the mission was completed and still you remain the same. A mission that Soap, Ghost and Price are involved in takes up most of their time. You haven't been  included because you weren't part of 141 when the mission started.

You were ranked up due to the protection mission but not to full chart. You attended mission briefings and reports but due to the lack of Prices presence things have been moving slow. As your captain he's also a guide to help your transition from the lower ranks to higher titles but he's been busy.

You've done other missions that don't mean much but it's still work. Surveillance and lookout errands being the most common ones you were given. Days seemed to slip by quickly even though you didn't do much.

Too busy in an empty brain to really notice the world around you. Most days of the week you were set to train, use new technology and discover more complex machinery and weapons. You kept to yourself; it was nothing new to how you'd usually act. Nights were filled with lonesome drinking before you'd fall asleep and repeat the day on auto pilot.

You hadn't been sent on a close mission with your team, nor had you seen much of Ghost. He was busy no doubt, training a class of recruits and handling other small missions. You didn't actively search for him, but you'd been seeing less of him since arriving back.

Now you walked across the halls towards Prices office where he'd requested to see you before he got whirled up back into work once more. You gave a sharp knock on the dark wooden door. The metal plate drilled into the door with the labeling:

'Capt. John Price 141'

"Enter" He called back, his voice muffled by the door that separated you both. You twisted the door handle with a soft click and stepped in. He sat at his desk, the room was compact but organized with file cabinets and shelves filled to the brim with papers and folders.

His desk was large and dark oak wood, his brown leather chair sat behind it. A large window beside and behind him, drawn with blinds to block the sun. He smiled at your arrival and stood up, gesturing you to take a seat. You shut the door and sat down in one of the chairs opposite him while he gave a glance at his watch, "Afternoon rook" he said. 

"Sorry I'm a bit behind time" you mumble, slouching in your chair.

"Ah no issue" He smiled with a dismissive hand wave. "I'm sure you unfamiliar with locating my office on this side" He chuckled.

You nodded with an agreeing hum. You'd initially thought you knew where to go considering you'd been serving here for a while, but you struggled finding Prices office. After asking for help you were pointed in the direction and after the first intersection of the halls you got lost again, needing to stop and look for the names of hallways and buildings.

He had an ashtray on his desk, filled with cigarette butts. One was still lit at its end and a trail of thin smoke floated above fading into the air slowly before disappearing.

"Congrats on the ranking for one" He smiled. "Just a few things while I've got the time, I know you've been under Sargeant Coopers calls but that should be done now."

"I'll be able to issue you missions and what not now that a decent chunk of an ongoing mission has been completed" he says.

You don't know much about the mission; you weren't called into any meetings that discussed the objective. However, it was clear that this mission was stretched, been going on for a while. Due to the complications of the mission, it wasn't an active threat at the moment, so time wasn't against them. 

"How's the past weeks been, haven't been able to catch up with you in general" He asks.

You shrug fiddling with your belt loop. "Slow" you mutter.