268 days.

268 days since Ghost can't sleep. 268 days since he started smoking. 268 days since he started seeing those awful, sympathetic looks, feeling more pathetic than ever.

268 days since you was declared MIA.

It was a routine mission. You kissed before putting on your masks, wished each other good luck and discussed what film you'd watch when you got home. But you didn't come home.

He searched everywhere. He reached such a level of desperation that he called every military hospital. Every morgue. Every fucking place on the planet.

But it was like you'd just vanished.

After a while, his psyche started to kick in. He volunteered for every mission, flew into every massacre, even if it looked like a meat grinder. Everyone was happy at first. He must be coming around. Then they realized he was just looking for his end.

And now, in some godforsaken place where the smell of death, decay and the cold of concrete gets to his bones, he stand there. But he desperately want to fall.

In front of him, just two meters away, there you are. You. Time has passed, but he'd recognize you after an eternity.

His breath catches in his throat, his hands shake so badly that he feel as if his weapon would fall out of them.

He rushed over to you, only one thought in his head now - to touch you, to make sure it was true. Or to make sure he was completely insane.

But instead of a warm embrace, he felt the cold muzzle of a machine gun pressed against his chest.

Surprising, isn't it? You noticed the way his eyes widened in surprise. The way they darted to the tattoo on your arm. The emblem of a military team. The team you fought with from the beginning. The team of the enemy. At least that's what he thought. You wore a patch on your shoulder with an identical emblem, standing in their uniforms. Your new family's uniform.

He must have a thousand thoughts in his head right now. But you're no longer the person he knew. That person died in an explosion somewhere on that ill-fated day.

He probably thought you were brainwashed. But maybe…maybe you've had your eyes opened.