Chapter 1: Meeting her

Your pov:

As i stepped off the chopper, i recoiled as the cold air lashed at my face. The blades of the chopper spun furiously,  deafening my ears as it flew off swiftly, leaving me and my luggage (which wasn't much) at the building. I stood and admired the view of the base, a tall and large building showing immense activity surging in and around the base. Training drills, Marches, training in general etc... the atmosphere was.. unique, it was both serious and carefree at the same time. It was like a controlled ball of chaos. While I was examining the base a large man walked up to me. His prescense screamed respect and he had an air of control and responsibility surrounding him... then again most seasoned veterans do.

"you the new recruit?" he asked, his voice gruff. I couldn't determine whether he disliked me already so I decided a respectful approach would probably appeal to the drill sergeant personality within him.

"yes sir" i replied, my voice monotone as always. It helped to keep a neutral tone, no one gets confused if the topic of your sentence and your emotions dont align. You also tend to lose your ability to show emotion all the time after years of combat.

"follow me, I've been asked to assign you to your room and show you around the base."

He walked off to the base as i followed suit, catching up to walk right next to him. While he probably would prefer I walk behind him (seeing as he hasn't seen my ability and would probably believe I am a rookie) I decided to walk beside him, as his peer. Thankfully, he didn't show much of a negative reaction, instead deciding to find out more about me.

"Names sledge, what's yours?" he asked as we walked the, what appeared to be, long endless halls.

"I've been codenamed ghost" i replied, again with a monotone voice. He didn't seem to trust me with his real name as of now and to be honest, I dont trust him either so I gave him my codename.

"alright ghost, this is the cafeteria" sledge responded "this is the place we usually meet our peers the most, aside from training. If you so wish you can take your food and leave but I wouldn't if I wanted to make a positive first impression"

As we walked through the doors, I became uncomfortable as almost every person in the room shifted their gaze towards me and sledge, though mainly me. It was a paranoia thing really, when so many people focus on you out of everything in the environment it gives the impression of an ambush. As usual, I masked my emotions behind a cold mask though. I don't know who these people are apart from the few I received a file from. These people could have negative intentions, so keeping a cold mask over your thoughts and feelings prevents them from getting too much information.

"Most people get along here, it's bad for the job if grudges get in the way. You wouldn't want someone who you've got bad blood with to hesitate on saving your life" sledge informed as I scanned over everyone. While I was good at analysing people (such as their emotions, intentions, etc...) too many people were there to analyse, just trying gave me a headache.

There were all sorts of people from different ctu's ranging from fbi to GIGN. Everyone was mixed in with different people apart from what appeared to be spetsnaz who stayed with their group. Russians typically only trusted their own, so that was no surprise. As I was about to look away I saw something that caught my eye. A patch of green that stood out from all the others, I hadn't felt it but I could tell just by looking at it that it would feel just like pure silk. Our eyes met and we stared at each other for what felt like hours until she finally looked away.

"who's that?" I asked, curiousoity leaking from my voice. I didn't mean to show any emotion but for some unusual reason I had dropped my walls and my mask fell apart for a few seconds... I became sloppy.

"the one with green hair?" sledge asked,

I nodded my head in affirmation.

"that's Ela bosak, one of the best defenders team rainbow has, she's a Polish operator, trained by the GROM" he responded, giving me a curious look.

"And judging by your look I'm guessing that you are interested in her" he asked with a slight grin. While I wanted to gain trust with my peers, this is not the way I wanted too.

"I was merely curious, I too was trained by the GROM and I thought she looked familiar" I replied, donning my Cold mask again. Unfortunately, Sledge didn't seem convinced.

"Suuuuure, whatever you say. I can't fault you though, most young recruits fall head over heels for her" sledge laughed.

"Are you comparing me to a couple newbies?" I asked in annoyance.

"Are you grouping yourself with the people who are in love with Ela?" He asked with a bright smile. I was dumbfounded, a mere glance of this woman and I had slipped up twice.

"My real names Seamus Cowden, I was born in Scotland and joined the S.A.S as an expert in breaching" he stated. Now I risked coming across as a bad peer if i was to refrain about revealing more information about myself.

"My name is Y/n L/n, I was born in Poland and I was invited to team rainbow after my role in operation Red Agatha was revealed" I replied.

"Revealed?" Questioned Seamus.

"I technically didn't exist for a couple years until my branch of the GROM was shut down. Turns out half of it was corrupt" Seamus gave me an alarmed look "I was apart of the non corrupted half, in fact my handler was firm in keeping me away from most of that branch, just took orders from her and occasionally her superior" Seamus' suspicious look shrunk, but was still visible.

Seamus continued to show me around while occasionally making small talk, showing me the training area, the dorms for recruits, the dorms for attacking operators and for defending operators.

It was approaching night as I started to become drowsy. At first I was able to hide it but Sledge must have noticed as he started to take me to the defenders dorms.

"oh and I forgot to tell you that you will be sharing with a defender because recruit dorms are full" sledge informed me.

"so who am I roommates with?" I asked, slightly alarmed. I shouldn't be, but I can't help but be paranoid... it's what keeps you alive most of the time.

"you'll see" he responded, further increasing my suspicion. It got to a point where I kept a grip on my knife tucked into the seams of my jacket. We came to a halt at the end door, the preferable place for an ambush to give the target more space to traverse. I didn't like the smile on his face, it was unnatural for a man of his caliber and warning signals were firing off at every cylinder in my head. Creaking gained my attention as the door slowly opened fully to reveal that same woman again, Ela Bosak. Again my defenses dropped and I fumbled internally to pick them back up. How was this one woman doing this to me? I averted my eyes to compose myself but Ela seemed to seize the chance to pull out my emotion.

"Sup sledge, who's the newbie?" she asked while giving me a smirk.

"Excuse me?" I asked, slightly infuriated. Seamus seemed to give a knowing chuckle.

"Yes?" She asked, tilting her head and innocently smiling.

"Newbie? I've got 12 years in GROM and took part in many vital operations, you compare to one of those bumbling idiots we're going to have a problem" I growled in anger to which she beamed brightly.

"Wow, you show emotion! I got worried that you were going to be another vigil." She laughed, flicking her hair over her shoulder. I became dumbfounded for the third time today, this woman just played me. I came here hoping to show no emotion, be unreadable yet trusted and cement myself as a skilled and reliable operator. Instead, this one woman has broken my walls multiple times and drawn out my emotion like she was unraveling string, it was INFURIATING. Yet I couldn't bring myself to be furious with her, I blamed myself. I'm like a child, I've gotten a small crush and now, suddenly, I'm a love sick puppy.

"This will be your roommate for the time being, I hope you get along" stated Seamus before leaving.

"come on newbie" Ela provoked, walking into her dorm. Swallowing my emotion I followed behind her. Ela seemed mildly annoyed at my lack of a reaction and sighed.

"so newbie, what's your name?" she asked, dropping onto her bed and sitting cross-legged.

"ghost" I replied, keeping my voice steady and calm. I knew what she was doing, and I hated it. Of course i have encountered people who wanted to pry into my business and tear off my mask.. but none of them were a problem because I didn't crush on any of them, they weren't able to break my walls with a single glance.

"no I mean your real name"

"I don't trust you enough" I simply stated, causing her to frown.

"Why? I haven't done anything that shows I'm not trustworthy" she said.

"Well most trusted people don't try and trick me into showing emotion" I replied.

"Oh come on, you can't just walk in and be like 'I'm cold and mysterious', that's not a good way to make friends" she stated in her defence, at this I rolled my eyes.

"I don't want friends" I replied, dropping my luggage next to my bed.

"What? Why not?" She asked, confused.

"More weaknesses, you can be betrayed by those you consider close or they can be used against you to either hurt you or gain something from you" I told her, unlocking my first bag.

"Yeah but friends can also give you strengths. You can become mentally stronger, they can teach you new skills. They can help you through tough times, support you through your darkest hours" she stated, she smiled warmly to herself.. but that smile soon dropped when my expression didn't change.

"*sigh* forget about it" she became down trodden but I just ignored it... I also ignored the sharp pain in my heart at her sad face.

Firstly, i opened my luggage bag and was immediately greeted by a pair of fabric trousers i could use to sleep in. I felt open and exposed if my legs are on show because of the many scars that litter them, from land mines... to those that were self inflicted. I tightly grabbed them before entering the bathroom. The bottoms did a fantastic job of maximising coverage and comfort, which was great. I wasn't too bothered about the scars on my torso as there wasn't many and cut muscle usually grabbed the attention away from them anyway. My body wasn't like that of a bodybuilder, it was more that of a healthy Male, with the exception of abs and slightly more defined biceps. I was your average Joe compared to other soldiers, which helped me not stick out too much. Once I exited the bathroom I was greeted by an... interesting sight to say the least. There, on my bed, was ela wearing an oversized jacket, oversized t-shirt and oversized trousers... my clothes. She smiled up at me, using her sleeve covered hand to push up the hood to reveal her innocent smile. My heart exploded and I cursed myself yet again for dropping my walls again for this woman.

"Your clothes are really big, I thought I could make them work" she laughed, to which i couldn't help a grin snake it's way onto my lips. At this she beamed even brighter, clearly happy with herself for making my barriers break and getting me to smile. I couldn't even get angry, it was too cute.

"Can I have this jacket? It's warm" she reasoned like a kid in a candy shop.

"Sure, just get in your own bed" I replied, walking over to my bed. Ela then noticed my torso before looking me in the eyes

"Nice chest" she complimented before standing up and walking to her bed. I blinked at her bluntness but quickly shook it off. I slipped into my bed as Ela did the same with hers, turning out the lights. My eyes closed and I drifted into blissful sleep.