Writers Note: Here's a longer chapter for you. Been planning the next few chapters, Makarov is a bad bad man and I want to explore his side of things so I might include a very short chapter from his POV. I really want to emphasize how his character is more than just a bad guy.
Chapter Playlist: Confidence- Ocean Alley, Big Rings- Drake, Cirice- Ghost, Pass the Nirvana- Pierce the Veil, Let the Rain Come Down- Brent Cobb, Living for the Fall- Aryon Jones,
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It would have been impossible to hear anything over the roaring wind if it had not been for the headset that I was wearing. Price was the only one standing, Gaz and Soap sitting on either side of each other while Ghost and I relaxed in our own seats directly across from them. "Alright muppets, let's go through this again?" Price tapped away on one of the iPads, a satellite image of the nuclear power plant popping up so that we all could see it. "Soap and Gaz will secure a perimeter on the outside of this wall here," he traced a line along the wall that bordered the facility. "Ghost and I will scout out the plant. Jamie will be overwatch with the KATT-ARM at the top of his construction crane."
I leaned in to see the possible vantage points to put me at the top of the crane, "how do I get up there?"
Price pulled an ascender from the cargo netting on his right, "cabling should lead you to the top, you'll stick with Ghost and I until a path is cleared."
"Yes, sir." I gave him a confident nod and leaned back in my chair again. Pulling the scarf that had been given to each of us up over my face, I felt a familiar tingle in the tips of my fingers and a nervous shake of my leg.
Drop shock entrances were terrifying to seasoned soldiers, jumping out of a plane at the lowest elevation possible. You had to open your parachute at the exact right moment or else you would either land too late behind your comrades or you would land too hard and seriously injure yourself. The pressure gauge and elevation counter on my wristwatch was the only solace I had that I could actually do this.
Air Assault school training required recruits to jump out of planes, helicopters, do eject situations; I wasn't scared of jumping out of a plane, heights didn't scare me at all, but it had been years since I had even gone through a simulation of a jump launch. "When's the last time you did a drop shock?" Soap asked me, the question was genuine in his protectiveness, taking his new handler title very seriously.
"Never done a live one," I admit, and I see all of them give me slightly concerned looks, "I remember the air counts and checks from training, I know how to land, I'll be alright."
"All of you did you chute checks this morning, yeah?" Price said, stare flicking between all of us.
"Yes, sir."
"Affirm."
"Yes."
"Yes, Captain."
"Alright, then let's push this cargo up. We're approaching the DZ in two minutes," Price commanded, all standing and heading to the open bay door. We were so high up, even though we had been descending for a while now to drop us as close as possible to the plant. The enormous KATT-ARM strapped to my back under the massive parachute that resembled a turtle shell. I was sure that was what I looked like to all of them, a turtle that hadn't quite grown into its britches. I made a mental note to myself that I would be eating two MRE'S when I got back from this mission. No matter how gross or plastic they tasted.
I was about to look out over the expanse of the world that soared under us, but I felt the gentle pull on the back of my sweatshirt sleeve. Gloved fingers formed around my bicep muscle. What had happened last night between us didn't have a place in our minds with the jump impending. But the look in his eye was anything but lustful, he was scared, genuinely and wholeheartedly scared. "I don't like that you're going to be above us, it's too much like..." his voice faltered. Gaz, Soap, and Price gathered around the jumpmaster, giving us a few precious seconds of conversation alone.
![FEAR IS FOR THE WEAK [GHOST//SOAP X OC] by LoveLee88](https://img.wattpad.com/cover/332996208-80-k795832.jpg)
"Kootenai," I finished for him. I could see him waver just slightly, but it was enough that my heart skipped a beat under my chest. While he may hate me enough to push me away from him in every emotional way possible, he was unable to disguise his fear of losing me again in that rot. The mask and cam cream may have hidden the concern that made his brows come together and his jaw set, the glaze of terror in his eyes was impossible to mistake.
"Listen, if anything happens-"
"One minute to DZ!" The jumpmaster called.
I began to walk towards the bay door, a line forming behind Captain Price. "Jamie, look at me" he commanded, pulling back once more, "don't worry about any of us, you look after yourself. If anything happens to you-"
"Tight!" Soap called as he pushed the cargo net filled with supplies up to the front of the bay door.
"Phoenix, Ghost, form up!" Captain Price screamed.
"Gear will be on the ground if we need it!" Ghost called, but his eyes stayed on me.
I gave him a blank stare, blinking unemotionally at the clear frustration that he was showing at the fact he could come up with the right thing to say, a loss for words. Both of us walked forward to the lines behind Price and Soap, the lightest brush of his fingers against mine. A last resort to tell me that he would have his eyes on me, protecting me. I walked with a slight wobble with the thought that this was it...
Nearly fourteen months ago I had died for this team in the middle of an ambush that all of us should have predicted. I was putting my faith, trust, and life in their hands once again. Why was I doing this? For the sake of seeing the man who killed me, brought me back just to torture me, bleed out in the most devious and disturbing ways possible. It was well worth it according to me. Maybe today would be the day that I get to watch him cry and plead for his life. There was every possibility that Makarov was down there with his flock of thugs. I bit into my lip at the thought. The sweet taste of sugar filled my mouth.
"Thirty seconds!" The Jumpmaster called.
Price turned and faced all of us "alright, pull at two thousand AGL!" I looked at the elevation gauge on my watch. Lord, it was going to be a hard landing. I looked at Soap who gave me a questioning thumb up. I returned it to him, but I was certain he could hear my heart thumping within my chest.
"We're cutting it close," he said, turning to Ghost who had finally taken his eyes off me to pick up the M4 he always used and pull the strap over his head.
"As we do," Gaz laughed nervously.
"Price, Jay, roger up at the rally point, yeah?" Ghost screamed over the wind that was now whistling by.
"Drop shock in ten seconds!" The jumpmaster screamed. Hitting the button of the cargo release, the netting flew outside the plane, parachute opening amongst the white clouds outside. Just like that, all our ammunition and guns were gone only to be rediscovered on the ground again. Ghost turned to Soap, giving his brother a hard fist bump, a silent see-you-later exchanged between the two of them. "Jump!"
Price and Soap went first, flying out in slightly opposite directions. Gaz followed in Soap's direction, leaving Ghost and I in the plane. "I don't like heights," he said just before taking another step towards the ramp.
"It's better than being underground!" I said before running and launching from the back of the plane. Glancing back just a millisecond to see Ghost jumping, his own hands reaching out for me in the air. The sickening feeling of free falling pooled in my stomach, making my breath hitch and my fingers tingle with my fight or flight mechanism engaging.
