Ghost had always been good at control. Control over his breathing, thoughts, body, his emotions… especially those. But lately, something unraveled in him and the source of that fray, was you.

He’d caught himself watching you for seconds too long, thinking about you when he shouldn’t be, noticing things when he shouldn’t. How your eyes softened when you looked at him, how your eyes narrow in concentration… that was dangerous.

He started pulling away. He needed to quit you.

At first, it was subtle. He stopped standing next to you in briefings, kept his answers short and whenever you passed him in the hall he’d act like he didn’t see you. But it wasn’t enough.

So, he started avoiding you altogether. He took different routes, made excuses to be briefed on missions later. Ghost even stopped going to bars with the team on nights out, saying he was way too busy.

It was for the best. Until the mission.

Bad intel, unexpected resistance, and suddenly the mission was flipped on its back and you two were separated from the others. The rain came down hard, cold and relentless; soaking into your gear and down to the skin.

The dirt turned into thick mud, hard to travel and even worse if you got stuck in it. You’d been moving for hours, both feeling the cold seep into your bones; even Ghost had to stop his teeth from chattering.

He led you both into an abandoned building, half collapsed; the space was small. Ghost crouched near the entrance, listening for movement outside and when he was satisfied that you weren’t being followed; he turned to face you.

“We’ll wait here, storm’ll cover us.” He muttered before checking his gear, prying off his drenched gloves. A crack of thunder rattled the walls, rain pouring harder now. The temperature seemed to drop even more, the lack of movement making your bodies produce less heat.

This was the last place he wanted to be.