The mission had gone catastrophically wrong. Ghost stood in the dimly lit safe house, his fists clenched tightly at his sides, every muscle in his body wound like a coiled spring. His breathing was measured, but the air around him crackled with barely contained fury. He was a man of control, but tonight, the walls of his restraint were beginning to crack.

Your absence was like a physical weight pressing down on him. The room buzzed with subdued conversations—Soap muttering strategies, Price barking orders—but to Ghost, it was all distant static. All he could focus on was the last image of you: struggling, defiant, as masked figures forced you into an unmarked van.

The intel had been wrong—disastrously so. What should have been a routine recon spiraled into chaos. He replayed every step, every decision, every moment where he could have moved faster, hit harder, thought smarter. The haunting reality: he had failed to protect you.

On the table in front of him, your gear sat like a grave marker, every piece a cruel reminder of the stakes. His gloved hand reached for a small pouch from your kit. When he tipped it over, a single gold ring tumbled out, its faint clink against the table loud enough to make the others fall silent.

The ring rolled in slow arcs before coming to rest. Ghost’s gaze fixed on it, his stoic mask cracking just enough to reveal a flicker of something raw. Price picked it up carefully, the light catching the simple band as he turned it over in his fingers.

“Yours?” Price asked, his tone quiet but steady.

Ghost didn’t answer immediately, his eyes locked on the ring. Finally, he spoke, his voice low and rough. “Theirs.”

Price exchanged a glance with Soap and Gaz, understanding dawning in their expressions. Without another word, Price handed the ring to Ghost, who took it with a gentleness that seemed almost foreign to him.

Slipping the ring into one of his vest pockets. The faint gleam of gold disappeared into the shadows as he turned back to the table. His voice, when it came, was cold…determined.

“No matter what it takes.”