Note to Moderators:
This story was previously removed due to the inclusion of Musical Lyrics, I assure you now that this has been removed and that this story does not break any of the content guidelines.👍

*Authors Notes

- I have used a dash between paragraphs to show significant changes in time frames.

- There will be another chapter. Enjoy. :)

CHAPTER 1

What laid before me was far worse than my greatest nightmares, this I knew.
Our head Chef is quite cruel at times, deciding that when absent, will give Alexsandr the opportunity to cook for the team; which he is yet to refuse without a large smile and sprint to the kitchen. The Chef understands the consequences too, (having tasted his cooking before) but he receives his own meals so he doesn't seem to care about the quality of ours. Now there are a few problems with this: Firstly, Alexsandr's cooking is beyond terrible, perhaps he thinks his "Advanced Experience" in the field somehow carries into the preparation of food. Secondly, I believe he's unaware of his cooking skills, maybe he's yet to taste his own food.
What sits in front of me appears to be... A bowl of pickles and chopped raw potato, swimming in mayonnaise? I'm not entirely sure.

Most likely noticing my disgusted facial expression: Monika, a close friend of mine, finds her way to my table and sits down.
"You look like you just saw Mike get into his Badeanzug, how's the food?" She asks, following with a light giggle and a concerning stare down at my food.

"Very funny," I respond sarcastically. "I'm honestly not sure how he found this much mayonnaise, I would be much better off shooting myself in the foot so I could avoid this." I continue my staring contest with the bowl of mayonnaise for a few moments, before looking up to her again. "How do you manage to survive during desperate times like this?" I respond, attempting to recall the last time she ate Alexsandr's food.

She leans in closer to me and whispers, "I don't eat any of his food. I have a toaster in my room that I use for "emergencies" like this. I don't want to hurt the big guy's feelings, but he never seems to notice anyway. I come downstairs afterwards to talk with you all and watch you suffer." She finishes with a laugh and a guilty smile.

"An Emergency Toaster? You really are the genius they say you are," I say, pointing my spoon towards her. Surprisingly she seems to brighten at the substandard compliment. "Perhaps maybe your toaster could get me out of this emergency, as well?" I say with a light chuckle, attempting to hide my inner desperation, in order to get out of eating this slop.

She examines me for a moment, "Of course, but just don't pass out on me before we get there." I Realised that I was quite tense due to the thought of a possible alternative meal. After seeing this, even toast excited me. We can never usually get our hands on meals apart from the ones given to us.

She looks into the kitchen, "Alexsandr is in the kitchen at the moment so we may be able to just sneak past up towards my room." She quickly ushered me out my seat towards the lounging area.

Upon reaching the doorway we run into Mike, also exiting the mess hall, holding his bowl of practically untouched mayonnaise swimming pool. He was in a rush and stuttered when speaking: "Move" He commanded as he pushed through us. I ask him, "Where are you off to, Mike?"
He stops dead in his tracks and turns, pointing to us and speaking slowly, "You didn't see a fu**ing thing." Immediately he darts out the front door of the premises; we hear the slopping of mayonnaise against the ground and a distant "Why the fu** did I even have a single taste of this shi**!" We walk up the stairs, both Monika and I chuckling, hearing Mike audibly complain outside.

We're met with long hallway which contains a large portion of the rooms in the building, for which a majority of the operators sleep. Everyone has their own private rooms, it's basically the best and only privacy that you will receive here.

Dominic, another friend of mine, is quite talented when it comes to displaying his own message of privacy; he used to attach his electrical cables to the doorknob, so whenever someone tried to enter his room they were presented with a painful shock and a snicker from inside. Though, he regrets the time he shocked Emmanuelle by mistake, as he forgot to turn the system off and said she could come inside. The following day he met her own special shock tool, and he's disabled his ever since.

We reach Monika's room, hanging from the doorknob is a tiny model of my shield, (A special design of mine, which is essentially a ballistics shield with a multitude detonatable flashbangs on the front.) I gave it to her as a gift for her last birthday, I told her it represents safety, though I also wanted to say it resembled her "Blinding Beauty", get it? I figured that may have been a bit too far, though, and I didn't want it to be taken in a weird way.

As always her room is very organised and clean, she's most likely the reason to why whenever I try to use the vacuum it's apparently "In Use" because this place appears to be cleaned more than 20 times a day.

Relieved to be out of that situation, I walk over and flop backwards onto her bed, creasing the blankets and staring into the ceiling. I look over at her, and she has her hands on her hips, with a playful, yet irritated expression on her face. I know she doesn't like me messing with her clean room. I give off a smirk and stare back at the ceiling. "Don't worry, I've barely done anything, the building's not going to fall apart."
She brushes it off, assuming that I'm not going to be lifted from her bed, and walks over to it. She falls backwards and drops next to me on the bed as well, big enough to nicely fit the both of us. We stare silently at the ceiling for a while, as if we were stargazing into a clear and starry night.

I don't know anyone who I feel more comfortable around than Monika. Sure, there are many operators which I can consider being good friends with, but Monika is for sure my closest, and it just feels right being around her.

Lost in my thoughts, I had completely forgotten the main reason for why I came here, she had food. You didn't want to miss out on your meals here, especially the day before hard training. Feeling tired and hungry the following day is a large burden.
I was about to get up and attempt to find her Emergency Bread and Spreads when my thought process was interrupted.

"Hey, Elias?"

"Ja?"

"Who do you think they'll pick for the operation?"

In Four days Rainbow will launch our biggest assault against the White Mask Organisation. It will apparently crumble the organisation to the ground, essentially removing them as a threat. I haven't thought too much about the operation since they haven't provided us with details or even notified us of the included operators. It's very likely to be our most dangerous operation yet.

"I'm not too sure," I say.

She turned her head to look at me, I realised her expression was no longer relaxed, but distressed. Her next question surprised me:

"Are you worried? What if we're picked, Would we be ready for an operation like this?"

I could tell that she was fearful when saying those words. I understood her feelings completely; being assigned a mission where your life and friends may be in greater danger than ever before and knowing that you cannot back down. It's a lot to grasp.
I know Monika, she would understand she is likely to be picked, but she's doubting her own capability, this is a first for her. She probably just needs some comfort.

"Monika, listen," I say quietly. I sit up and lean forward on the bed. "You don't have to be worrying about this, you are a fantastic operator and even if you were picked, I know that you would find a way to get the job done."

She lets out a deep breath, still lying flat on the bed. "Maybe you're right, I don't even know if I will be picked yet." She takes another deep breath for a few seconds, then looks back at me. "Thanks Elias, I really needed some reassurance before the picks tomorrow"

"Of course, you don't have to worry, I'll always be here for you." She lets out a smile and also sits up on the bed.

"So can I have some toast now?"

Having made my way back to my own room, I decided to distract myself for a while, since I wasn't very tired. I opened my cupboard, it was one of those larger cupboards you hardly ever see, the ones where you have enough space to walk in and not feel squashed.
Laying there against the wall was my specially designed flashbang shield. The commander lets me keep it in my room with me. My argument was "Seamus keeps a sledgehammer in his room and Alexsandr can keep an LMG in his room, I don't see the problem with a Shield in my room."
I stare at it for a while. I usually call it my "Flashbang Shield", or just "My Shield". I don't actually have a proper name for it like Gilles' "Le Roc". I start cleaning the glass panel on the shield. Perhaps maybe I should give it a name, make it a bit more unique.
I examine it some more. It may even be possible to enhance the shield in some ways.

Immediately Seamus walks into the room, I realise that I had never closed the door properly.
"Jordan said I should come up here and tell you they got a dessert ready tonight, everyone's already down there."
As if reading my mind, he jumps in to add, "Oh, and no mate, Alexsandr did not make it. He pitched the idea to everyone after dinner and Mike threw a fu**en fit at him and said that he'd make it instead. You're in luck." I spring back up to my feet and head downstairs with Seamus.

This was the first time I've seen everyone in the mess hall with smiles on their faces the same day that Alexsandr had cooked dinner. It looked like Mike had dished up a sort of Custard and cake delight, which I was very happy to see. I head over to him, "Hallo".
He was facing away from me and spoke slowly with a regretful tone, "I said some things I shouldn't have. He wouldn't want to see me right now, do us a favour mate and give this bowl to him, he's outside. The other ones for you." He gestures in the general direction of the desserts in front of me.
"Uh, Sure thing," I say with an uncertain tone.
Bringing the bowl outside I see Alexsandr leaning against one of the brick foundations. Standing next to him I see he's staring down at Mike's emptied bowl of Mayonnaise soup on the grass.
"Leave me," He grunts. I hold out the bowl towards him,
"Dessert?" I try for some sort of smile. He takes a glance, then reaches out and calmly grabs the bowl from my hand. He gestures in a dismissing motion towards the door. Respecting his wishes I re-enter the building, leaving him outside. I feel quite bad for the guy, I'm not even sure of what Mike said to him, it must have been quite bad for it to have affected him as much as it did.

Back in the mess hall, I see the majority of the SAS and FBI SWAT have joined in around the largest table and are playing a game of poker. From where I am I can see Jack has his Cardiac sensor enabled and concealed underneath the table, reading the heart rates of the other players to tell if they're bluffing or not. He saw me and could tell that I knew what he was doing. He shot me a wink then proceeded with his game.

I decided that I have had enough for the night, and headed back upstairs.
I run into Dominic before entering my room, he leans against my doorway preventing me from entering.

"Hey, Elias, ready for training tomorrow?"

"Are you ready to get beaten tomorrow?"

"Ha! You joke! It's too bad tomorrow's training is cooperative. I asked the commander what he has planned for training tomorrow, its CQB. As you know, he would normally only reveal it on the day, but he decided he would spill the beans if I got Mike to make him some dessert. Good luck tomorrow, the commander will be monitoring our performance, most likely trying to make some sort of final decision."

"Interesting, see you tomorrow."

I proceed to flop face first onto my bed.

I'm used to getting up to my alarm in the morning, but was surprised to wake up to the thumping of pillows against my face and the words "Wake up, sleepyhead!"
Of course, it was Monika. She had her hair done up in a bun today, wearing her usual jeans and grey long sleeve.
"I know you would want to keep sleeping, but I woke up earlier and I'm heading down to the course, so you're coming with me, go get ready" She spoke in a somewhat commanding tone, still with a smile on her face, possibly due to her having the opportunity to repeatedly slap me in the face with my pillows. I barely get the words "Ok?" out of my mouth before she has already left the room.

I was still in a light daze, having woken up seconds earlier, but because of Monika's early wake-up, I had plenty of time before training.
I have a quick shower and throw on my usual apparel before heading downstairs, not forgetting to take my Shield down so that I wouldn't have to do it later.

It's noticeably quiet at this time, I guess no one must be awake yet. Looking around I see the mess hall is empty… except for Ryad, laying down on a couch surrounded by empty bottles. I doubt he drank all those himself. He usually has difficulty sleeping, and he might miss the training if no one wakes him. I quietly creep up and place my phone next to him, set with my alarm of 8 AM, so that he doesn't miss training at 8:20

I take a walk outside, noticing that the sun has barely risen at all. I follow the path that leads around the building, into our large training area. As expected I find Monika, she's tinkering with her Spectre. She noticed me while I was still distant from her, so I start talking as I close the distance. "Well, there goes an hour of my sleep schedule," Flashing her a playful smile.

"I thought that maybe you would want to examine the course with me before training."

"Examine the course..? Oh, I see what you're doing. You're getting a small head start before training. Trying to impress someone today?" I give her a cheeky smirk.

She looks at me and smiles, rolling her eyes. "I see Dominic told you about the commander monitoring us this session?"

I finally arrive next to her, "Mhm. But why would you want to have an improved performance? I thought you were worried about being picked?"

She looks down at the ground. "I gave it some more thought..." I see her bite her lip for a second. "Elias, I know I'm going to be picked. I don't want to sound like I'm boasting or anything, but my Spectre is essential for too many operations, it ensures that we're never walking into a trap, and highly increases the safety of the team. Now that's great and all, but here's the thing. I've always felt that the commander only chooses me because of my gadget, not because of my ability; he's never focused on that. I want to be recognised as more than just this flip up scanner on my wrist."

I took in what she just said for a few moments. Maybe the reason she was doubting her own capability is because the commander fails to recognise it. I wonder how long this has been bothering her.
"Monika, when I think of your greatest features, I think of your intelligence and diligence. You have the ability to quickly assess a battlefield and direct allies safely. You also have quite the shot. There are so many great things about you besides your gadget." It's hard to see because she's still looking at the ground, but I can see her eyes light up and a smile form on her face. I continue: "Maybe the commander doesn't take these features into account because he doesn't know you well enough. He's always hiding away somewhere and hardly ever interacts with the team, he's probably-" I'm cut off by a very familiar cough behind me.

"Ahem."

Neither Monika or I had noticed him walking up behind me. Both being surprised, Monika accidentally drops the tools she was holding, while springing up into an attentive stance. I swung around and almost hit him in the face with my shield, the shock causing him to drop the clipboard he was holding.

"My God Elias! Could you swing that thing any closer to my face?!"

Monika scrambles out her words. "Commander! I'm so sorry, we didn't see you approaching."

Our commander is quite a tall man, a good 5cm taller than me, and has a solid build. (Not as good as mine, though.) He has short black hair, with a strong facial structure, lighter skin tone and a nose the size of Germany.

"Sorry, my bad Commander. Thought the hairs on your nose might have been too long." Monika looks at me and gives a 'This is not the time for that' face.

"Well please be more careful with that thing." He picks back up his clipboard and regains his stance. "Well. Before I was almost smacked in the face with a large piece of metal, I was coming out early to prepare the final additions to the course, and I managed to run into your conversation."

I ask the question that I know both Monika and I are wondering right now, "How much did you hear?"

He looks over at Monika intriguingly, responding very quietly, "Enough..."
Seemingly snapping back to reality, assuming his natural voice, "My apologies you two, I shouldn't have interrupted your conversation the way I did." He then proceeds to walk off. For him to apologize like that was quite unordinary for him. We both watch him as he walks out of view.

I hear Monika walk up next to me. "You had to bring your little toy, didn't you?" She holds her hand up to her mouth and giggles.

I join in with her giggling, "I was very close to knocking him out."

"Why did you do that anyway?"

I grip my shield on the sides with both my hands and wiggle it in front of me."I didn't mean to, it all just happened in a flash."

She covers her face with her hands "Uuurgghh. Oh my god, Elias." We both immediately burst out into laughter.

After a while of talking with Monika, we start to see other operators make their way into the field, including Jordan, Eliza and Meghan, who find their way to us. Eliza speaks first "Good Morning".
Jordan then greets after, in his strong Southerly accent, "Mornin'. What have you two lovebirds been doing till now?"
His question surprised both Monika and I, with the use of the words "Love Birds". We weren't in any sort of romantic relationship, we were just close friends, he knows that. I was about to ask him what he meant, but Monika gets the words in before I do.

"Love Birds?"

He responds swiftly, "I was just messing with you. Nevermind that though, what's been going on this morning?"

"Just shields, puns and a whole lot of fun" I joke.

"Well if you thought that was fun, you should see what the Commander has in store for us today," Meghan adds.

Eliza glances over at her. "You talked to him?"

"No, Dominic was talking to me last night and-."

"OoooOoooo." Eliza teases.

"Wait," Monika jumps in, "Are you and Dominic…"

Her face blushes "No! What? No, of course not! Come on, let's head out before we're late." Her aggressive tone stopped that conversation in its tracks.

Making our way towards the course I manage see Ryad stumbling towards us. "Thanks," He hands me my phone.

"I was worried, didn't think you were going to get up."

"It did the trick. Would have been glad if you set it to a few minutes earlier, though. I woke up to Miles drawing a penis on my forehead." Everyone laughed in reaction.

The CQB course layout hasn't been changed since the last time we used it, it has only been repaired. It's a series of plaster and wooden walls about 3 meters high in a somewhat maze-like formation, made to simulate a building of sorts. It's laid with rooms, filled with targets and traps. By this time everyone is scattered around the area near the front of the course.

The commander walks out with a group of about 15 men. He shouts, gaining the attention of every operator in the area "Alright! All of you, take your positions!" We hear a large amount of "Yes Sir"'s and all of the men walk into the course, and can no longer be seen. He looks at all of us, "You Lot! I'm assigning you all to groups of five, each group will have to complete an objective successfully with minimal casualties. Today's training will be against live targets, using pressurised firearms, and plastic ammunition. This means no lethal ammunition, but it will hurt like fu**! If you are hit 3 times or are hit in the head once, lay on the ground, you're dead!"

I was not expecting live targets, looks like he really is testing us.
There is a large variety of equipment that is not allowed CQB Training. This includes destructive gadgets that could potentially be lethal to other operators. Shields are allowed, though my flashbang attachment would not be, due to the live targets. Suddenly the commander speaks up again.

"Going up first!: He looks down at his clipboard for a moment. "Pulse! Blitz! Blackbeard! IQ! And Castle!" Referring to us all by our codenames.

Monika looks at me, "I guess we're up. Didn't think there would be live targets."

Jack, Miles and Craig all have to wear helmets to protect them against the ammunition being used. Monika and I are allowed to use our usual GSG9 headgear.
Miles shouts "Over Here!" and gestures towards a large table, stocked with the pressurized firearms. At this same time, the commander climbs up a ladder onto an elevated platform used to spectate the training session from above. He shouts:
"Also! I will note that hand-to-hand combat is allowed for this specific exercise, due to the body armour you will be wearing, used simulate an actual operation. You must knock your enemy to the ground, just try not to break any bones!"

Jack pulls a thumbs up, "Got it."

I grab any sidearm I could find, there were multiple pistols lined up, so I took one of those.

Yet again the commander shouts from his platform, "Alright! Your objective is to infiltrate and rescue a hostage. Use any force necessary. You have limited Intel, so no use of any drones. Eliminate the threat, the hostage will be wearing a High Visibility orange vest. Failure to complete the objective within three minutes, or failure to keep the hostage safe, will be taken as a failed mission. Good Luck."

I was starting to feel the pressure of the situation, this was quite the jump from our regular training sessions. We all gather near the front of the course.

Monika asks, "Ready?"

"Ready. Just don't forget to aim your gun at the bad guys." That got a smile out of Miles, who seemed as calm as ever.

"BEGIN!" The commander shouts above us.

We quickly approach the entrance.
Monika pulls out her spectre. "Sweeping the entrance." I notice how lovely her accent was, how have I not recognised that before?
"Clear of electronics."
I move up with my shield, standing right before the doorway, with my team behind me. There are two passageways, leading forwards and to my left. "Front is clear." I check my left, "Left passageway clear." Monika holds onto my shoulder behind me as I move up. I go forward down the passageway. Pulse takes out his Cardiac Sensor, "Scanning for hostiles… Hostiles detected in rooms to our left and right. One in the room to our left." We all speak quietly, not giving away our position.

"Let's go left first." I decide. The commander can hear us all over the comms.

Miles watches the passageways behind us, while the rest move forward. We reach another large cross-section, with a passageway to our left again, a wall in front of us, and a room to our right.

"Camera detected in the room to our right."

"Room is clear of hostiles."

Good to have those two with me, they're great at discovering who, and what, is in close proximity. Craig walks up in front of me, he has a small bulletproof glass shield placed upon the top of his gun. He slowly steps forwards and peeks around the corner with his weapon. "I see one." We immediately hear fire. "Hostile down."

"We must move fast," Monika tells us. After the first shot, Our position would be revealed. The room directly to our left has another target in.

"Moving into the room on our left." I speed up now, still with Monika behind me. Pulse alerts me of his position in the room. Before I turn the corner Monika grabs me and pulls me back, "There's a trap on the doorframe. We have to disable it first." I walk around the corner, at the end of the passageway I see a man lying on the ground casually, watching us, carrying out his orders for when he is shot. Next to us is an open door, the hostile hiding around the corner. I can just see a small box on the doorframe, with a green light attached to it. Monika shoots it once, I then spot the commander signal a man next to him on the platform. The light turns off.
"Entering." I rush in with Monika behind me, holding my shield in front of me. We're immediately spotted and my shield starts taking fire, Monika returns fire around the side of my shield, hitting him multiple times in the head.
"Holy fu**! Urrggh." He drops his weapon.

"Room is clear," I say over the comms.

We haven't located the hostage yet. We hear the commander speak over the comms. "Two Minutes remaining." We all move into the room above us.

"Camera detected." She shoots it once, hitting it dead on. A second later the light turns off. We enter the room, it's empty but has a closed door near the one we had just opened. Suddenly we all hear, "In here!"

Pulse shouts to us. "Three Hostiles, incoming!" We prepare ourselves.
The door bursts out and we all open fire, hitting the first man so hard he fell to the ground. "AH! THAT HURT LIKE FU**!"
Pulse speaks up, "There are two more waiting outside the door."

"Noted. I'll take care of them." Craig says confidently.

Miles speaks back to him, "No, let Blitz exit first, your rifle shield is not large enough, there may be more."

He responds louder, sounding aggressive this time, "I will take care of them."

Monika shouts at him. "Craig, stop!"

He turns the corner and spots the two hostiles, shooting them both in the head. He turns to his right, "Sh**!" Suddenly being hit multiple times on his exposed side, from a hostile down the passageway. The commander speaks over the comms again,

"You're gone Craig! Get on the ground." He follows his orders.

Pulse pulls out his scanner again, "The passageway to our left is now cleared, Craig was shot from the end of the other passageway."

"On my way. Stay behind me." I move out the room and start walking down the passageway, expectedly taking fire from the other end. Monika pops up from behind me and places a few bullets into him. We walk closer to the room.

"No further hostiles detected in that room."

Miles shouts, he was watching our flank. "Hostiles approaching from behind!"
Two men immediately turn the corner right next to him, I aim my pistol and secure a headshot on the first hostile. Miles doesn't get a shot off before the man has knocked his gun out of his hands. Miles was in the way, and we couldn't assist in time. Luckily he could handle himself; instinctively punching the man in the chest and throwing him onto the ground and jumping on top of him.

"He's done." We hear over comms.

"We've cleared the west half of the building of hostiles," I inform.

The man lying below by my feet speaks up with a strong British accent. "Good job mate."

"Um… Thanks?"

The commander speaks over the comms again, "1 Minute remaining."

"We should move faster," I suggest. I proceed up the main passageway.

"Pulse holds out his scanner, two rooms up ahead, six targets spotted. The room on our right has four targets, one is lowered down, compared to the others. It may be the hostage. Located in the centre of the room."

Monika interrupts, "The doorways are rigged with traps, clearing them will not be an option."

"45 Seconds remaining." I was dreading hearing those words.

"We cannot shoot through the walls with these weapons." Miles worries.

I had an idea. "Ok, what I'm about to do is a bit crazy, but might work. Jack, where are the hostiles located?"

"Back left side, front left side, and here," He points to a location at the wall in front of us."

"I'm going to make a hole there, provide covering fire." They all look at me in confusion.

"30 Seconds remaining"

I take a few steps back until my back is up against the wall, and take a deep breath. I start running forward, gaining speed, holding my shield in front of me. The team finally realise what I'm doing and prepare themselves.
The smash through the wall was surprisingly easy, I hit the wall and charged straight through, falling on my face. I feel bad for the man I sent flying forward in front of me. I hold my shield on top of myself but found out that was unnecessary, as Monika had immediately shot down all three of the men almost immediately after my entry. Everyone was stunned by what I had just done, including me.

The clock was ticking, I quickly get up. Monika sprints in and grabs the man in the centre of the room, who is bound around his hands, wearing the High visibility vest the commander spoke of.

"Quick, Run" She tells him.

At that moment I had only just gotten up, and I followed Monika out the hole I had made, back the way we came.

Jack shouts to her "We'll provide covering fire, Move!"

So the three of us turn, backing up slowly, waiting for someone to run after us. We start to hear a lot of shouting, and just as predicted, a large number of men run around the corner, weapons were drawn. I'm standing up with my shield, with Jack and Miles behind me, firing from around my shield. There was five of them in total, all knocked down in moments. I took a shot in my leg, but that was fine. We eventually back into the room where Craig is sitting, "Now, lets bolt for the exit. Go!" Listening to his command, we all dart for the exit, and Miles barricades the door behind us. We all sprint out the front door, hearing the timer's siren just after we had gotten out. Monika had already made it outside with the hostage. The other operators had all been sitting scattered outside and provide us with an applause.
The commander comes down from the platform and walks over to us. "Two seconds… You finished with two seconds left on the clock." He looks at us, his face not necessarily looking impressed, but satisfied. "Well done to you all. We will discuss more about your performance later. You're free to go for now."
Everyone begins to exit the building, including Craig. One of the men were limping, covered in pieces of plaster. God, now I feel bad.

The commander addresses the men, "All Right. You lot! Set it all back up, next run begins in 10."

Monika puts her hand on my shoulder, "Nice one Elias, I never thought you could take over Seamus' job." She makes sure to say it loud enough for Seamus to hear.

"Yea, Yea whatever! I could have done that without falling on my face!"

"Want to head back inside?" She asks me.

"Sure, I think Jack said he would be going back to set up a game of Pool. It's about time someone shows him what losing looks like" I give her a cocky grin.

I sat next to Monika in the mess hall. It was late in the afternoon, just before sunset. We had spent many hours of the day repairing my shield, (I discovered that it actually broke upon impact with the wall. It was not made to do that.) talking about training, and versing Jack and a few other operators in a Pool competition. Jack beat me three times in a row, but it turns out Monika is quite the player; beating me, Jack, Dominic and Shurat with ease.

We didn't stay for the other's training sessions but in our discussions, we found out that no other group successfully retrieved the hostage. Though I did hear some fantastic stories about the training. For example, how Zofia beat three men at once in hand to hand combat, and how Timur secured every hit for his team, all as headshots.

The commander walks in with a satisfied smile on his face. He stops in the centre of the mess hall, addressing everyone, "Alright then. I have finally come to a decision. Listen up." The room falls silent.

"For this upcoming operation, I have selected a group of operators who are efficient, cooperative as a group and are specialised in specific fields and gadgets, for which will enable a higher chance of success for this operation. We will be infiltrating a major supply line in Egypt. It has been used to privately transport supplies to White Mask groups all around the world while remaining undetected from our radars. If we bring that place to the ground, the entire organisation will come falling with it.

You cannot and will not reveal any details of the operation to anyone outside this room we are in now, it is considered highly confidential." He pauses for a moment. "The Operators included in the initial infiltration are as follows: Glaz. Pulse. Twitch. Blitz, and IQ." He leaves without saying another word.

We hear a lot of immediate discussions; some applauding, and a bit of swearing throughout the room.

Monika and I just sit there for a moment. I was actually quite happy with the result. I say to her,

"Looks like we both made the audition."

Her lips curved into a smile. "Ja, I guess we did." She looked proud of herself and was speaking gently. "And you know what? I'm not even worried about it anymore. There's no operation that you and I couldn't complete."

Her words were very comforting. We did, in fact, work well together. I felt that we're yet to see the extent of our ability.

I decide to break the topic of conversation. "We've been inside too long. Let's go watch the sunset." I figured that outside might be more peaceful, I know we'd both feel better away from everyone for a moment. We get up and walk upstairs, up and onto the balcony. It conveniently had a fantastic view of the sunset, so we lean on the railing.

"It's stunning," She tells me. "I'm glad I can actually see it and wasn't completely blinded today from that shield of yours."

I laugh, "Well you didn't have to help me repair it."

"I know I know, don't worry, I wanted to help. If I had let you fix it on your own, you would have accidentally set a second one of those flashbangs off in your face." We both end up laughing at the memory for a while.

One thing that never left my mind today was how Jordan described us as "lovebirds". I wondered if he actually thought of us as a couple, maybe he was teasing us, thinking that we have feelings towards one another...

...Now that I think about it, the idea doesn't seem so strange. As the laughing finally fades I look at her,

"Hey, Monika?" I had spoken with a quieter voice than normal.

"Ja?"

"Why do you think Jordan called us Lovebirds?"

"Oh," She was surprised by the question. "Well, maybe he thinks that..." She stops, and ponders ideas in her mind for a longer time than necessary.

Her gaze meets mine. "Elias, I..."

-"Hey you two!" Seamus interrupts, shouting from the doorway. "I am sick of being Jordan's bloody fu**en messenger, so this is the last time I'm doing this for you!
Dinner is served, don't miss it. The Chef is still absent, and Alexsandr wanted another opportunity to cook, he claims he's much better now, and Mike's old broken heart said that would be alright. So get your asses down there."

End Chapter