Scorned (Rainbow Six Siege Fanfiction)

Rendezvous

"Hatch? Able? How copy?" A click on her radio startles her, making her pause their training.

"Able," the man responds, "Coming in for pick up. All of you are ordered to a rendezvous with a... 'James Porter'."

"Smoke?" Ritual says through her teeth, distressed and slightly annoyed as she sees the helicopter closing in. "Why?"

"Apparently, he was the closest," Able remarks, "And needs a few words with you."

"I have nothing to say to anyone but Harry." She shakes her head, her mumble whipped away by the raucous blades. "Men," She swings up onto the helicopter, holding on to the outer rail. "Guns clear and let's go. We'll pick this up later."

The men don't dare to say a word during the ride, only speculating what the meeting could be about, while Ritual knew. As soon as the familiar building comes into view, she jumps down from the helicopter before it fully touches the ground, doing a small roll and standing to her feet. The men follow after, giving waves back to Able before approaching the base they called 'Hereford'.

"Over here." She hears the gruff voice call from the firing range. Once she spots him, she walks with her head bowed to the surrounding glares. "Hello, Scorned."

"Call me by my god damn name, Porter." Ritual snarls, crossing her arms. With nothing but a scoff, Smoke waves for the group to follow him as he enters the base. He leads them up the stairs to a small room with a table and few chairs.

"So, let's cut to the chase." Ritual turns to face him, bracing her palms against the table. He leans against the doorway, looking over them all with stern eyes. "What am I being punished for this time?"

"Oi, here we go..." Smoke shakes his head. "Look. We don't need you and your shields, Scorned. Not anymore."

"Don't make me say it a second time." Ritual says so sternly it hurts her throat. "Out of our near-fifty Operators, we have four shields that I'm not even allowed to be deployed with, so why not? I was given the freedom to train my men however I pleased."

"Not allowed with other ops, why?" Gunnar cocks his head, before Ritual waves a hand to shush him.

"Not now." She dismisses. A shock hits him for a second, as he visibly reels back, but resumes his poise in front of the group.

"Oh, you haven't heard yet?" Smoke chuckles before his smirk drops. "I'm not much one for rumors, but this one has quite the reputation." He waves a finger at Ritual.

"I'll show you reputation." She warns him to stop, annoyed. "So what am I supposed to do with the shields I've spent a year training?"

"No one asked you to train them that way except that one." The man points to Gunnar. "Unless you clean things up, they're going back to their units."

"What?!" Ritual shouts, slamming her hands on the table. "So that's it? I'm just supposed to send them home and go back to sitting in the cage, waiting for a mission I'm finally allowed to go on?"

"If you wouldn't have screwed your job in the first place, maybe you'd be deployed right now." Smoke takes a step into the room and leans down onto the table, glaring down on her. "The fault isn't anyone else's but yours."

"My fault?" She stands straight so swiftly that her chair kicks back behind her, taking a big step and getting in his face. The men watch the two, now inches apart, standing back slightly in fear of what might happen next. "That bomber that would've killed me had I not jumped out of a window high enough to be suicide? Watching my partner die in my arms?" She stifles her anger through her sharp teeth. "I have done nothing but sacrifice myself for the good of Team Rainbow, and all I've gotten in return for it is reprimands and scars from the gloves of people like you."