Chapter Text
Your file was passed between the boys before they discussed whether to make you a part of their team. They all agreed you would be a valuable asset.
Hard-working. Top of your class. A perfect shot in training. Hand to hand combat wasn’t too shabby either. The boys joked about how you would end up being competition for who was the most skilled in the team. The only person who had slight reservations about your recruit was the captain. Price was very particular with whom he let into his carefully hand-picked team. He’d worked with these boys for years, learned them inside and out; their strengths and weaknesses, their limits and tempers. They were a family to him. You, on the other hand. You were new. Someone who he would have to study, learn to see if you were the right fit for Task Force 141.
-
The helicopter landed outside the base at first light. The sun hit your skin harshly, burning underneath your black shirt. Probably not a good idea to wear the darkest shade in this sort of heat. Stepping off the chopper, you were greeted with two men, both of whom you didn’t recognise. You hadn’t exactly studied the men you would be working with, but looking back on that, you realised it wasn’t your smartest move.
“Sir,” you greeted the taller gentleman who gave you the tiniest of smiles as you approached. He nodded in your direction and the shorter man extended his hand as you reached the two of them. Graciously, you shook his hand curtly, mirroring the same motion with the other soldier.
“This is Rodolfo,” the taller man gestured to the other. “I’m Vargas. Colonel Alejandro Vargas of the .Los Vaqueros” He spoke with a native tone to Las Almas, indicating to you that he was raised in these streets. The feeling that knowing if he lived here, he would protect here, brought you some peace of mind.
“The cowboys?” You inquired, cocking your head.
Vargas smiled then, a small one, but a smile nonetheless. “I read in your file you spoke Spanish, I’m glad to see that’s true. One less person we have to teach, huh, Rudy?”
Rodolfo chuckled. “Thank god for that, Colonel.”
“So you’re Price’s new recruit, eh?” Vargas asked, looking you up and down. “I’m glad to see you finally arrived. The boys have been waiting on you all morning.” Vargas nodded his head towards the compound. “Let’s get inside, rookie. Got a lot of work to do before you’re out in the field.”
You followed the two men inside, taking note of everything around you. The soldiers training, the vast array of military machinery and weapons out for you to ogle at, it was a lot to take in. Your previous residence, the training camp, was not nearly as advanced as this. You were going to have a lot of catching up to do.
Having the conversation with your superior about joining Task Force 141, knowing you were being recruited for a team you’d worked for your entire career, was a blessing to your ears. You felt ready. You’d worked hard enough. Hopefully, they thought the same.
-
There was a large table at the end of the room, where a group of men were standing around, talking with one another. You recognised some of them from what you had been told about them by your previous superiors. Sergeant McTavish, who everyone called Soap for some reason you really didn’t understand. Lieutenant Riley, known as Ghost, of course for his signature mask. It was a bit daunting, walking into a room full of professionally trained war soldiers. But you held your head high as you followed Vargas and Rodolfo.
“Hey, Price. Got your rookie here for you, hermano,” Vargas called out, drawing all the attention to himself, and of course, you.
You hadn’t seen any of their faces before. Their photos weren’t available to you in the files, just their written notes. But you saw who you assumed was Captain Price look up from the table. He stood the furthest away from you on the other side of the table, lifting his head slightly while his hands remained pressed down on the table. He watched you intently, following you with his eyes as you approached the table.
At first glance, he knew you seemed a little nervous, but you held your nerve quite well. He respected it. With that, and your track record on paper, he felt more confident in your skills and your place within the task force. It may take some training and some observation to see how you really were in person out in the field. But even though he still kept some reservations about you, he felt positive.
“Well, if you’re not gonn start the introductions, Captain, I will,” one of the men at the table said, breaking the small silence between you all. “I’m Kyle, but everyone calls me Gaz.” He held out a friendly hand and you shook it, returning his introduction with your own name. Soap and Ghost introduced themselves after Gaz, Ghost was a little more reluctant and quieter than the others, but that’s what you expected of him.
The team seemed friendly enough, warming and welcoming to your presence. In your head on the ride over you envisioned the team being cold and shut off to you being a new addition, but you were more than happy when that wasn’t the case.
-
After a quick briefing, Soap walked you to your room at the end of the hall. “So you’re next to Gaz. Good luck, by the way, he’s a loud snorer,” Soap chuckled, tapping on Gaz’s door gently. “And this is yours. It’s small, but comfortable, weirdly enough. You’ll fit right in, rookie.” With a fist bump as a goodbye, Soap left you to it, and you opened the door to your living quarters. He was right, it was small; a bed positioned in the corner with a bedside table resting next to it. Another door on the far left side led into a small bathroom equipped with a shower that looked all too inviting right about now. There was a desk and a set of drawers beside the door to the bathroom, so you began unpacking your duffel and filling the room with the small amount of personal belongings you brought with you.
After thirty minutes or so, there was a knock at your door and you made your way to open it. “Captain,” you greeted Price, not expecting him to be on the other side of the door.
“Rookie,” he returned, casting his eyes over your room before focusing back on you. “I want you in the firing range in twenty minutes. Time to see what you’re really made of, soldier.” Your heart raced at the first opportunity to finally prove yourself to this team. You weren’t about to let yourself or anyone in 141 down now.
Fifteen minutes later you had changed your clothes and tied back your hair the best you could, opening the door to the firing range to be greeted by Price patiently waiting. He glanced at his watch briefly.
“You’re early. Even better,” Price noted, looking back up at you. “Let’s get started, shall we?”
You’d had quite a lot of practice with weaponry during your training period back home, but it felt a little different with your Captain by your side. He watched you with pure concentration, and you could feel his eyes boring into the side of your head. But you blocked him out. A distraction in a real life situation could get you killed, so best not to let anything distract you in practice.
Price was impressed. When he saw you were written down as a perfect shot, his first inclination was to not believe that for one second. Many people had passed through him claiming to be a “perfect shot”, and all of them had fallen short. Not you, though. You really were exactly how you were down on paper. Not one shot fired without precision, not one target missed the whole time. Not one moment where your eyes ever left that firing alley, always waiting and watching for a new target to make itself known to you.
Taking off your headphones, Price followed suit and the corners of his lips were slightly upturned which you didn’t expect. “Nice work, rookie. You’re giving my boys a run for their money. They aren’t going to be happy knowing you beat their high scores.” He chuckled to himself, moving closer to you and taking the gun from your hands. “Now you seem pretty good with your long range,” he pointed out as he walked back to the shelf where his weapons were laid out. “Now lets try your short range.”
-
Your entire body ached. You hadn’t missed this part of training. The obstacle training was your worst enemy. One minute you’re climbing over high shit, the next you’re crawling under it. It was the worst. You sat at the end of the course, elbows resting on your knees as you let your head fall towards the ground. You heard footsteps approaching where you were sat on the floor, a pair of familiar black boots coming into your view.
“Had enough, rookie?” Price asked, amusement in his voice. You didn’t have to look up to know he was smirking at your suffering.
“Not at all, Captain,” you looked up, shielding your eyes from the sun with your left hand. “Ready whenever you are.”
He chuckled, shaking his head and holding his hand out to help you up. You took it, letting him pull you off the ground swiftly. You realised how close you were standing to one another when you were finally on your feet. His hand stayed resting on yours a few moments until he let you go, looking over your shoulder and waving over Soap and Gaz behind you. “Boys, I thought you’d be in the food hall. Not hungry today?”
Gaz laughed, and you turned to face them both. “Come on, Price. When have I ever turned down a meal? No, we were just waiting for the rookie. Figured she’d wanna come eat with us.” You nodded, looking back at Price in case he had the idea of keeping you out here a few more hours.
Price looked at you, then at Gaz and Soap. “Go get some food, Rookie. You’ve done enough for your first day. But before you go, I will say…I’m pretty impressed with how it’s going.” With that, he patted your shoulder and walked back to the main tent where Vargas and Parra were planning their next mission.
“Did he just compliment the rookie?” Gaz mumbled to Soap, who looked just as confused.
“Um…yeah I think he might have.”
You looked at both the soldiers, confusion also painting your face. “What? You guys never get complimented by the Captain?” You joked, walking beside them as you all made your way back to the living quarters.
“Not as rookies,” Soap responded, shaking his head as he huffed a laugh to himself. “Come on, I’m starving, but I ain’t eating a thing till you’ve changed, rookie.” The three of you laughed and they both waited on you as you quickly showered and changed into simple comfortable clothes; a plain black vest and cargos.
The food was a lot more pleasant than you expected, but it was warming to have hot food in your stomach once again. Taking a sip of water, you cast a glance over the rest of the food hall. Groups of soldiers, men and women alike sitting in large groups, chatting and laughing within their own little circles. In a way it sort of reminded you of high school. You were slightly lost in your old world, even with how loud Gaz was on your left. You only clicked back into reality when a figure appeared on your right, looming over you.
“Scooch over, rookie,” you heard Price say, and you looked up to see him glancing down at you patiently. You obliged, nudging Gaz so he too would move over a little on the bench. You felt a slight dip in the wood as the Captain sat down beside you, the warmth of his body radiating onto yours. “So how are you finding Las Almas so far?”
You swallowed the food in your mouth before responding. “It’s nice. Just as I expected it to be, honestly. Definitely preferring it here to the training base I was at back home,” you smiled, looking over to him, seeing he was looking right back at you.
“I can imagine you would, rookie. The boys here were just happy to be in a warmer place rather than back in England.”
You went to say something in return, but Soap got his word in before you could. “Captain, we gotta get the rookie a nickname or something. We can’t just keep calling her the ‘rookie’ forever.”
The other boys murmured in agreement, while Ghost just looked between them, the balaclava covering most of his face still so you couldn’t really gauge his expressions from his eyes alone.
“Well, honestly your nickname doesn’t really make much sense, Soap,” you pointed out, smiling. “If I have one I at least would want it to make some sort of sense. What does yours even mean.”
Soap thought about it before he said anything, chuckling quietly. “Well, it’s sort of a long story. But we’ll find you one that suits you, rookie, don’t worry.”
The rest of the meal went swiftly, you engaged in their light conversation and jokes, feeling like more a part of the team than an outsider now. Price kept an eye on you, seeing how you opened up a little more around the boys, your confidence slowly starting to seep through. Perhaps his first thoughts of you were wrong. Perhaps you really were going to be a fine asset to this team.