Chapter Text
The dirt path was bumpy and it made your head hit against the window every now and then. Your eyes were staring at the dark sky, admiring how well the stars could be seen from this region miles away from any town or city. Inside of the military truck was a comfortable silence, or at least for the driver, some guy you didn't know who just was here to take you to your new base. You, however, weren't doing so great with the silence, mostly because you hated long silences with strangers, it made your skin crawl and itchy. So you were trying to focus in something else; the sky and stars, the cold window against your clothed forehead, your duffle bag between your feet. Anything.
You were nervous, even though you would never admit such a thing. Nervous because you were going to meet your new team, new comrades, new people you were going to be forced to trust your life on their hands. Yeah, meeting new people was definitely not your thing. The very thought of it had your stomach twitching on a knot and sweat running down your back even when it was freezing outside. You were used to working alone, that was something you were good at. Because then you only had to worry about yourself and the mission, and you could make your own plans and strategies. So when Laswell came at you saying that some captain -Prize was it? Or Price?- wanted you to be part of his Team Force, you refused.
That day was still playing on your head. You had just came back from a solo mission, ready to have a shower and go to bed to sleep for several hours. Then the second you stepped inside your base, Laswell was onto you. Which wasn't strange actually. Laswell was the one who gave you your missions, before her you had another commander who did that but the missions he used to give you were just small jobs. When Laswell began taking interest on you, she made sure that your missions were important, part of something bigger, and that you liked. So when Laswell approached you that afternoon, you thought she was going to ask about the mission, if it went well and if you found what you were looking for. But no. Instead she started talking about this Price guy and his very famous and skilled Task Force and how he had chosen you to be part of it.
You stopped her mid sentence, refusing the whole idea and reminding her that you weren't fond of playing with others in a team. Those were not the actual reasons of you refusing the offer. The main reason was that you were scared. Scared because being part of the most famous task force of the country meant that he had more chances of finding you and that, that made your bones cold with fear. But Laswell didn't know about him and you had no other excuses. Then, of course, she insisted. And well, you are not very good at saying no, so you were easy to convince. You ended up accepting, very reluctantly, but accepting anyway.
And now you were here, a week later, watching your new base from afar as the truck approached it every second. You stared at the building with anxiety, thinking that maybe it wasn't so late to back off and refuse again. Your fingers fidgeted with the rings around them, a habit you used to replace the biting of your nails since now you were using a mask all the time. Before you even notice, the truck was stopping inside of the base and in front of it was a man with a boonie hat? Who uses a hat indoors? Is what you thought to yourself.
You opened the door of the truck and got out nonetheless, duffel bag now hanging on your shoulder. You approached the man, looking at him up and down as discreetly as you could to have a general idea of him. He had a beard that seemed to be well taken cared of and his stance was relaxed, a soft glare staring at you, almost gentle. That made you want to squirm on your feet, not feeling comfortable with the idea of being the center of attention.
"Sargeant Raccoon?"
The man asked, and you took a deep breath to put yourself together. Your eyes turned cold, trying to look as calmed and relaxed as possible.
"Yes, sir."
You responded, offering your hand for a handshake, though you didn't want anyone to touch you in that moment. But you swallowed it down since, well, this was probably your captain and you didn't want to give a weird first impression.
"Captain John Price. Pleasure to meet you, sargeant"
He said, accepting the handshake with a kind smile. His hand was warm against your cold one and he squeezed just the right amount not to made it awkward. Your tense shoulders relaxed a little after the handshake, suddenly not feeling so anxious.
"The pleasure is mine, sir"
You added with a very small smile, despite your captain not being able to see it through your balaclava. John seemed to smile wider when he noticed how you relaxed and that made you more self-conscious.
"Follow me, I'll show you around"
The captain said and he turned around, not waiting for you to answer. You quickly followed and stayed by his side, with a few steps back to put some distance. You walked through the hallways, looking around with curiosity as he started to name and show you every place of the big base.
"This is the mess hall, breakfast's at 7, lunch's at 12 and dinner's at 6:30. The food's nothing fancy, but it gives you energy"
He explained as you nodded, looking around the large room. Then you both started walking again through the hallway and he kept speaking.
"That is the training room. At the end of the hall to the right is the medical unit and to the left is the barracks for the other soldiers."
John said and then turned around to walk back to where they just came from. You followed him again and you both walked through another hallway, a different one.
"Our task force is smaller so we have our own rooms, private ones, you have one too"
He said and then stopped in front of a door. There were another few doors along that hallway and you counted 6 of them. Your eyes then went back to the door in front of you when the captain opened. He entered and you did too, looking around the room. It wasn't too small but not big either, with a single bed with a nightstand, a small closet, a drawer besides it and a desk with a chair in a corner. It had everything you could need.
"You like it or do I need to find another one for you?"
You heard him spoke again, but his words had a mocking tone on them. So you knew he was joking.
"No, sir, it's alright"
You said, nonetheless. You watched him smile again.
"Good, I'll let you settle in and get some sleep."
He patted your back with his heavy hand and the sudden contact made you tense and work your jaw tight. The captain didn't seem to notice as he got out of the room and closed the door behind him. You sighed in relief when you were finally alone. The social interaction got you tired, and that was just a small one. You couldn't imagine what would it be to be around your teammates the whole day.
You threw your duffle bag on the bed and started unpacking, organizing your few clothes on the drawers. When you opened the closet you saw different gears, which seemed to be your size. So with that done, you laid on the bed as you took your balaclava off and left it on the nightstand. You sighed, suddenly feeling the tiredness you had, and decided to try and get some sleep, knowing that tomorrow would be one hell of a day. Still, you doubted that you would be able to sleep. It was probably going to be one of those nights.