The Ghost and the Shadow

Chapter 50 - Storm in the Desert

Pixie and I walk to the mess hall in silence.

My eyes are heavy this morning and I struggle to keep them open. I drank way too many sleeping pills last night and it feels like I've been hit with a tranquilizer.

I don't know how I'm going to stay awake today.

I wonder if Ghost is back yet, I feel bad about the way I reacted yesterday. Pixie's right, I'm being irrational and letting my past influence my future.

She's oddly quiet, which is unusual for her. "Something wrong?" I ask.

She looks down at the ground and shakes her head slightly, "No...I've just been thinking."

"About?"

She looks around and lowers her voice, "Just me and Soap and you and Ghost..."

"What about us?"

She stops in her tracks and turns to me, "I'm just worried about our futures, after you told me about your relationship last night I was tossing and turning. I heard Graves talking to Shepherd the other day and he mentioned something about us going back to Iran as soon as the mission is over."

"Back to Iran?" I ask.

She nods, "Yes..."

I don't know how to take this news, I haven't really thought about the future, I've just been focused on the "now."

"Have you and Ghost talked about what you'll do after the mission? I mean if you and I are sent back to Iran and Ghost and Soap somewhere else, we'll literally never see them."

"No...we haven't talked about our future at all, I guess it's too soon...but hey, don't worry about it, even if we are stationed in different places, we can still take leave and see them often," I try to make her feel better.

"Are three weeks a year together gonna be enough to keep our relationships alive?" she asks and a worried frown rests on her brows.

I don't know what to say to make her feel better, her concerns are absolutely valid. What will happen after the mission when we're split up. I know for a fact that I don't want to leave Shadow Company.

I squeeze her shoulder, "Hey, don't worry about any of that stuff now – let's see what happens and just enjoy the time we have with them now."

She nods, "Okay, I guess you're right."

While eating breakfast, I see Piper entering the mess hall and starting to dish up food. They must have gotten back in the early morning hours. My eyes glance around the room, looking for Ghost, but I don't see him anywhere.

My phone chimes and a message comes through from Graves, asking me to meet him in the parking lot in an hour. I frown, I wonder what this is about. Why in the parking lot and not in his office...

Soap and Rudy join us, and we fall into conversation. An hour later, I leave and head to the parking lot to meet up with Graves. I spot him standing next to a Humvee and he gives me tight-lipped smile before getting into the driver seat.

Are we driving somewhere?

I walk over and get into the passenger seat, "Morning..." I say as I buckle up.

He looks to me and smiles again, this time a bit wider, "Mornin' Shadow, sleep well?"

"Nope, like shit and you?"

"Same," he says as he turns the key, and we start driving off.

He's acting strange, something feels off. We never do stuff like this, and I can't imagine where we could possibly be going right now. There's undoubtedly a tension that hangs in the air and I don't know if I should talk or not. Is he mad about something; did I do something wrong with his paperwork.