Bittersweet | Simon Riley

ONE

Ghost personally never believed in shrinks. He hated talking to strangers, let alone strangers who were taking notes and reporting every word he said back to someone else who he didn't know. He didn't trust the process, he didn't trust the people and he didn't exactly want to be thrown on some pills. He just refused to believe in shrinks, plain and simple.

Yet here the Lieutenant found himself standing awkwardly in a hallway. After a practically rough last few missions, Ghost had taken his frustrations out on some of the incoming recruits, gaining him some bad reputation with them. But he was used to that, he didn't care what those kids thought about him, he was meant to be scary, meant to be ruthless. Though he hadn't expected that one situation to send the brass spiraling and pull him from missions until further notice.

Soap had busted his balls over it before he had also been informed that he would be needing to talk to someone. That made Soap stop laughing real fast. Apparently when saving the world from terrorist was important, the brass wanted the soldiers of the task force to get some healthy way of coping with the supposed trauma. Ghost refused to believe he needed to talk to anyone, he was fine, really.

"It'll be good for you," Price's words rang in his head as he stood outside the little office which had been moved into quite recently. He had passed by the little office room a few times before, pretty often if he was honest, but it hadn't been until the beginning of the week that it became occupied. Ghost watched as others scurried past him, not looking at the man who was known for his faceless appearance and ruthless personality. He wasn't some guy who talked about feelings.

"You can come in," Ghost raised his eyebrows a little when he heard the voice after he knocked and he reached for the door. He opened it and moved to step inside, his eyes quickly scanning the room in a way that any veteran of war would when they enter an unfamiliar setting. When Price had told Ghost that the base had gotten a new shrink, therapist or whatever he wanted to call it, he had expected an older man who would take about his own time oversea. Usually those men would after a few sessions just sign off on any release and that was that. What Ghost was not expecting was a girl who looked about ten years younger than himself to be hovering around a desk, her eyes scanning over a folder in front of her. Then she looked up. "Hello, I'm Isabelle Jackson,"

"Jackson," Ghost repeated her last name which he had in fact been informed of but assumed it was some old guy. He found himself standing by the door for another second as he studied the girl behind the desk who was now standing up straight. Warm brown eyes with her hair down, dressed in military fatigues like he was but looking much more comfortable.

"That's me." Belle smiled a little and Ghost stared at her as she closed the file in front of her, not allowing him to see what she had been reading. She met his eyes, warm brown clashing with icy blue and finally Ghost stepped into her little office, allowing the door to shut behind him. "You're Lieutenant Simon Riley, correct?" She asked with a small tilt of her head, motioning for him to take a seat while she stayed standing at her own desk.

"Ghost is fine." Ghost said, his voice devoid of emotion as he moved to the seat, not quite sitting yet. He was not used to being on this side of the desk, usually he was the one who was behind the desk. Belle was watching and waiting for him to take his seat, the two stuck at a crossroad already.

"You can sit." She prompted with a gentle smile and Ghost finally took the seat without saying anything. He hated this already, hated this so much. Belle smiled a little brighter as he took the seat and she cleared her throat a little, her fingers tapping silently on the wood of her desk. Ghost wasn't meant to see it but it was a dead giveaway when he did spot it, the girl was nervous or at least anxious. "Hope you like the office, I tried to make it feel less, yknow," She shrugged a little with that smile, keeping the height difference between them with him sitting and her standing. Ghost had used that technique before, it was something he often used during meetings, standing while others sat to let them know he was in charge. She was letting him know that while he might be able to kill her, she was in charge of their little meetings.

"I don't know," Ghost said simply and Belle took a seat across from him, her fingers lacing together as she looked at him. His gaze moved to her eyes again and it was like he could see all the gears in her mind racing, her eyes not tearing away from his like most others did when he looked at them. So she wasn't scared of him, just nervous.

"Ah, well, hope its comfortable enough." She said anyways with a small sigh and Ghost studied her silently, looking for flaws or other things he could easily get a read on. He was trying to stay three steps ahead of this girl. "So, let's just get started, right? No time like the present." Belle smiled brightly at him and under his mask Ghost was judging her. She reminded him of Soap, except she was much more happy and didn't have such a colorful variety of inappropriate phrases.

"Right." Ghost repeated back with a shift as he sat in the chair. The girl had clearly put effort into trying to make her little office more comfortable and Ghost sat in the chair which was far more comfortable then the one he sat behind when he wasn't out on missions. The room was decorated somewhat but Ghost could easily spot the boxes which had been tucked in a corner with more decorations for the small room.

"Right." Belle smiled after giving Ghost a moment, seeing if he was going to say anything else but when he remained silent she took control of the conversation between the two of them. "So, I know why you're here but I'd like to hear it in your own words," Belle smiled as she clicked open her pen and flipped it between her fingers, the smooth pen moving with grace and Ghost could see her nails were uneven from her biting at them. Ghost shifted awkwardly in his chair because this was going to be more then he hoped for.