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Chapter 1: Awakening (Written By JWR832)2,825 words
Chapter 2: Warm Welcome2,020 words
Chapter 3: Back In The... Saddle?3,677 words
Chapter 4: Misery Loves Company (And Cupcakes)3,658 words
Chapter 5: We Want Answers2,133 words
Chapter 6: Everything In My Power2,673 words
Chapter 7: Hail To The Queen3,019 words
Chapter 8: I Should Kill You. Slowly.2,362 words
Ghost Stories, Part 1: Welcome to the S.A.S.819 words

Ghost Stories, Part 1: Welcome to the S.A.S.

Ghost Stories, Part 1: Welcome to the S.A.S.

One year ago...

"Stay with me, Gary. Eyes on me. Good. Now I want you to take a swing at me. Try to gimme something that'll hurt tomorrow."

"Sure you can take it?"

"Can't be as bad as getting shot, so I'd hope so. Now, hit me!"

Gary swung out with a right hook, aiming for Simon's jaw. Simon leaned back, turning his cheek into the punch. Gary just barely made impact, but impact nonetheless. Simon grunted, staggering back a pace. He touched a couple fingers to his lips. A couple drops of blood dotted his fingertips. He flicked them away, raising his fists again.

"Not bad. Now it's my turn."

He swung with an uppercut towards Gary's gut, but he was ready for it. Gary slid one foot back, Simon's fist grazing Gary's army green t-shirt. Gary responded with a shot towards Simon's ribs, but Simon reacted by swinging his leg, trying to trip Ghost up. Gary's punch missed, but he kicked Simon's leg away, knocking him off balance. As his leg swung up, Simon gasped as he felt Gary grab a hold of his ankle and push upwards, knocking him up and off balance. He fell backwards, hitting the padded mat with a thud, the air knocked from his lungs. He grabbed his chest, a noise escaping his throat that was somewhere between gasping and laughing.

"Not bad," Simon coughed.

"You ain't so bad yourself," Gary said, holding out a hand to help him up. Gary took it, pulling himself off the ground, brushing out his shirt.

"You're learning fast," Simon said. "You fight a lot better than you shoot, that's for bloody sure."

Gary gave Simon a gentle shove on the shoulder. "You watch yourself, bud. I might accidentally aim my sidearm at your kneecap next time we're at the shooting range."

"And I might kiss you at the pub one night and say I was drunk."

"Hey, if you buy me dinner, I'll take my shirt off first."

Simon shoved him back, but he was smiling. He patted Gary on the shoulder, and they went for the door.

"For the record," Simon said on the way out, "I could've stomped you like a roach if I wanted to. You know what? I think that's what I'll call you from now on. Roach. Sounds fitting."

"Oh, please," Gary rolled his eyes, "You went as white as a ghost when I threw you on your-" Simon punched him in the shoulder before he could finish. Gary shrugged as they left. "I'm telling ya, white as a ghost."

---

"And that's how you came to be known as Ghost and Roach?"

"That's right, mate."

"What did your C.O. think when you told him you wanted those names?"

"He thought they were bloody strange. So Roach asked him what kind of name Soap was."

"And what'd 'Soap' do?"

"... Smiled. Then patted us on the shoulders and welcomed us to the S.A.S. family. That was just before Soap took Roach to the mountains of Kazakhstan to retrieve some pretty valuable intel. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I'd see either of those bloody soldiers alive again. You can imagine my surprise when they came back in one piece."

"Where were you while they were in Kazakhstan?"

"In the chopper, waiting to pick them up."

"The chopper?"

"Didn't stutter, mate. The chopper. Was at the bottom of the mountain when the two of them came barreling down the mountain on snow bikes with at least ten more armed and very angry Russians following them. We were getting shot up all the way off that mountain. Lost two good men just trying to take off."

"You two must've been pretty close."

"... Yeah. We were."

"Some people say the two of you are heroes."

"I ain't no hero. I'm the one who's still breathing. Roach is the hero in all this. Best soldier I ever knew, and believe me, it's hard to find any good soldiers anymore."

"Just one more question. How did Roach-"

"I think we're out of time, mate."

"But how did he-"

"Yeah, we're out of time." Scree. "You should buy yourself a watch, mate."

Creeeak... Slam!

...

Sigh...

"Kill the tape."

...

Click.

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