• Chapter One
    Break My Fall


    “Cause you’re not alone here, not at all. Let me belong here.
    Break my fall!”
    --Breaking Benjamin

    Lying on my stomach, I watched Captain Duane ‘Soap’ Mercer shoot at the metal targets with his sniper rifle. It was quite funny, how I had to wear a balaclava and wear a baseball cap to hide my identity, and each time they say I hit like a girl, I just roll my eyes. I was the F.N.G. and it was…all right for now. My undercover name is Darius Deleon. My real name was Rosalie Shay. I was the twenty-two year old Sergeant that had just joined Task Force 116. We were Delta squadron and one of the most efficient squads. It was just me, Soap, and Lieutenant Michael ’Mike’ Marston. Mike and Soap were two of a kind. Mike was thin with a muscular build, blonde hair that was nearly white, his hair always kept in a ponytail because of its long stature, and deep blue eyes like mine. Soap was thin too, but he wasn’t as muscular. He had a short black mohawk and deep emerald green eyes, an American/Scottish accent, same as Mike. I felt weird because I was pure American, no trace of British or Scottish in my blood. However, nevertheless, Soap was insanely cute. Even though half the time, he forgets to shave his five o’clock shadow on his face. However, if you got as much sleep as we did, you would understand.

    Dust came up when I shot my sniper. I sneezed.

    Soap laughed, “Damn, Darius. You got a girl sneeze.”

    I cleared my throat, and answered in a low voice, “You could have just said ‘bless you’, instead of insulting me, Captain.”

    He threw a glare at me, but did not argue. He shot another target and, right on schedule, Mike flew from the office building across the way on our little isolated training ground, and then nearly ran over us. He looked down and saw us glaring up at him.

    “Oh, right on, you guys are right here, huh?” he said quickly. He must have had twenty cups of coffee the way he was acting. Then I realized that his eyes were a fiery red. Soap must have noticed it too, because he jolted to his feet. I jumped up too.

    “What the hell happened to you?” asked Soap, his voice dead serious. Mike sneezed and then turned around from us. He doubled over and threw up.

    “Adamsite gas.” Mike said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “Bloody fool let some rip while we were testing weapons inside.”

    “Damn. And a mission in thirty minutes. You aren’t going to recover that soon.” Soap replied, grabbing Mike by his shoulder. He radioed in some assistance and two troops, Private Decker and Leon, dashed down there and took Mike to the medical wing. Soap looked over at me. “Looks like it’ll just be me and you for a couple hours, Darius.”

    I’m glad that I was wearing that balaclava, or he would be asking me why I was blushing.

    I was dismissed and I went into the main barracks and went into my footlocker. I’m happy that I had a lock to it (I had to have some bras and girl stuff stashed in there) and I grabbed my black t-shirt and baggy Artic jeans. I pulled them on quickly before Soap came in. My boobs would give away my identity real quick. So would my blonde hair. I tied it up and attached it to the top of my head with bobby pins before putting on my hat.

    When Soap walked in, I was wearing my black balaclava, black baseball hat, and my black Kevlar vest that hid them. I kneeled down, looking at my open footlocker as I tied on my black boots. And I nearly panicked. There it was, a pitch white bra poking out against the other dull contents. I grabbed it quickly, ignoring my boots, and threw it under my black jacket and unloaded pistol. I slammed it shut and locked it, catching the attention of the Captain. I looked up and over to where his bed was as I took a seat on mine. I noticed that his white t-shirt that he was wearing earlier had been taken off. He had a muscular chest, but there was a long, thin scar on his left side where his ribcage was at. I turned back to my boots. I began lacing them up as he walked around. He rummaged through his footlocker, pulling out a black t-shirt and a black Kevlar vest. He pulled on his black t-shirt and then the vest. He walked into the large closet, which was actually an armory. He grabbed two M16A4 assault rifles and two M9 pistols.

    I finished tying my boots and then stood up, hopping twice in place. They fit snuggly like normal and Soap tossed me a rifle. It was colored in Artic camouflage and was silenced. “We’re going to Russia in the snow. There’s a blizzard down there, so take these.” he said, handing me a black transmitter and an Artic jacket. I attached the thin black transmitter around my next, attaching a speaker to my right ear. I placed the middle of it at the middle of my throat, where it could pick up the vibrations of my speech. I pulled on the Artic jacket. It fit quite snug on me, so I was glad that I was wearing the Kevlar vest underneath it for extra warmth. Soap put on his jacket and we began walking towards the helicopter. It would take about an hour just to get there. So much fun, just the Captain and me.

    We got into the helicopter and it took off. I sat across from Soap and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He looked up at me and then he leaned back. “There’s something about you…I can’t tell what it is…” he spoke softly.

    Oh no, I panicked. He found out…

    “What…what do you mean?” I asked, forgetting to be in the deep voice. I fake coughed and cleared my throat.

    “I don’t know. It’s just that…ah, I’m probably going insane.” he closed his emerald eyes and smiled. Then he looked at me. “You know, I’ve never asked you this, but…you don’t have a British or Scottish accent like me and Mike. Where are you from, Darius?”

    “My mother and father were both American, but they were in England when I was born. I lived in England for a long time before I began training to join a Task Force.” I replied. I was telling him the truth, and I was glad that I didn’t have to lie to him.

    Then he asked, “Why join a Task Force?”

    “My brother,” I spoke lightly. This was the truth too. “He was killed when he was in the Task Force by his own team. I’m following in his footsteps. Except the dying part.”

    I looked out of the helicopter bay and then Soap said, “I understand. My brother died when he joined the US Marines. I joined the Marines two years after his death, and then was drafted here when I was a Sergeant. Hard to believe that I’m only twenty-five.”

    “How old were you when you were drafted?” I asked, looking over at him.

    “Twenty,” he replied. Then a sudden pain showed in his eyes. “I was with that team for two months and then…then I watched them all die. I couldn’t help. I was wounded--stabbed in my chest. I was left for dead. Darius Shay and Lucian Marston…they both died that day.”

    I froze. Darius Shay was my brother. I wanted to ask him what happened, but I didn’t have the heart to. But I recalled seeing the scar on his muscular chest. “Lucian Marston…Was that…”

    “Mike’s brother,” Soap nodded. He smiled. “I remember when we were on a helicopter ride like this, just me and Darius. We were talking about our families and he showed me a picture of his sister. Rosalie, I think her name was. Boy, she was pretty. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Darius said, ‘That’s my little sis there. She’s a doll. Pretty, huh?’” Soap chuckled. “I remember meeting Rosalie once. What a week. We spent a lot of time with each other. Until I had to leave. I haven’t seen her since. I sure do miss her. There was always something that I wanted to do…”

    I didn’t respond, just chuckled softly. My heart raced fast. He thought I was pretty. He missed me. That was five years ago, yet he still felt bad about it.

    “Delta Four, we are clear for landing,” spoke the pilot. A chill went through me, but it wasn’t because of fear or anything. I looked out of the helicopter bay and noticed that the water had large chucks of ice. Not exactly glaciers, but pretty damn close. I pulled my thick hood over my hat, noticing that Soap did the same. The helicopter began going down and I noticed a large base off in the distance and a village nearby. We would have to go through the little village to get to the base. I looked over at Soap. His M16A4 was now tucked under his jacket, and he looked at me. I undone my jacket and covered up my rifle. I prayed that we wouldn’t have any trouble in the village, or our little sidearm would be all that we could use.

    We jumped off the helicopter that was hovering the ground. The helicopter took off and left us there alone. I shivered as snow hit my back from behind. Soap stood still and then he began walking, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. I did the same and followed beside him. It was hard to see the little village through all the snow, but it soon came into sight. It was so cold, but I didn’t say anything. “Act casual.” Soap ordered and we entered the village. He walked over to a small store and went inside. I followed quickly. He looked back at me and winked.

    Oh, boy. What is he thinking? I thought.

    I stood by the door as he ordered two cups of coffee and then he talked to the cashier about the military base. She told him all about it in a soft whisper. He told her to keep the change. “Thanks, beautiful.” he winked. I gritted my teeth and the cashier giggled (I told you he was insanely cute), but looked over at me. We death stared each other. Soap walked over and he handed me a cup of coffee. I stopped death staring her and looked at Soap. I thanked him for the coffee.

    “What was all that about?” I asked him, walking back out into the snowy street. I took a sip of the extremely hot coffee, and it was really good. I was walking behind him, making sure that he couldn’t see me take on and off my mask to drink the coffee.

    Soap took a drink from the coffee. He replied, “Getting information about the military base up ahead. We better get out of this town.” he turned around and I did too. He cursed. Seven Russian soldiers went into the store we had just come from. “We need to get into the blizzard.” he said quickly, drinking a gulp of the coffee and throwing it into a trash can nearby a hardware store. I did the same and we began jogging. We unzipped our jackets, moving the rifles to the outside of our jackets, zipping them back up. “Get lost in the blizzard. I’ll find you when it’s all clear. Become a ghost. Good luck.”

    He ran to the right and then he jumped onto a ledge, running more until he disappeared. I jogged straight and then I flipped a panel on my weapon, and the little pale blue panel showed the heartbeats of anybody in a twenty-meter radius. Perfect. The middle of the radar was a green dot, which was me, and the dark blue dot that continued to run off screen was Soap. I noticed ten white dots ahead, which were Russian enemies and I froze.

    “Darius…” Soap said slowly through my transmitter. “You just ran into that military base.”

    I crouched down behind a truck as they began walking in various directions.

    “I’m coming, Darius.”

    I slammed my eyes shut. I forced them open and noticed that all the white dots were gone. “Captain, where to?” I asked.

    “Alright, kid,” Soap replied. “Track down their communication site, which we’ll tap into and download everything they have been broadcasting for the past three months.”

    I looked around, then at my panel. “Captain, where are you at?” I asked.

    “There is a generator nearby that powers the compound. I’m going to short them out.” Soap replied. “I’ll be down there in a few.”

    “Alright, over and out.”

    I began trotting down there, keeping an eye on the heartbeat sensor. There were no white dots and then I noticed a large building with a satellite on top. I went around back and hid behind a crate as I heard someone speak. It was in English. I tapped the transmitter, turning it back on.

    This was sent to Soap:

    Russian One: “Are the nuclear warheads in place, General?”

    Russian Two: “Of course. With the help of the American man, there‘s no way that they‘ll--”



    “F**K!” roared Soap through my transmitter. The power went out and then the Russians silenced before they finished.

    “What the hell?” the Russian soldiers shouted. I grabbed a flash bang grenade from my waist and threw it through the window. Then I sprung up and jumped through the window just as it went off. I slammed my eyes shut, then opened them just as they began flailing about. I fired two shots and killed them both. Soap burst through the door, slamming it behind him. I snatched up files about the warheads and conversations between the Russian General and the American, cramming them in the jacket pockets. I zipped the pockets, thanking God for that invention.

    “Bloody hell,” Soap gasped. He looked over the window and ducked down quick before getting shot. There was a muffled scream in the closet behind me and I looked at Soap. He nodded and I kicked the door open, pain striking me in my side. I grimaced. The cashier woman, Isabella, was tied up and duck taped, staring up at me with puffy eyes from crying. I grabbed her wrists and cut them, along with her ankle bands. Then I snatched the tape from her mouth. She cried out in pain. “Snowmobiles out back.” Soap nodded. We ran out back, the woman running behind us. I jumped on the dark blue one, and Soap got onto the dark red mobile. “Come on!” he shouted. Isabella jumped on the back of his mobile, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, underneath his rifle (the M16A4, you disgusting people!). I growled underneath my breath and revved up the snowmobile, speeding off next to Soap. “The chopper is down past the village. Lead the way, and I’ll keep these bastards off your back.”

    I sped off ahead of him. I skidded across the ice as twenty-plus enemy snowmobiles came after us. I looked back and noticed that Soap was far back. I pulled up my M9 and shot at a driver, killing him. He crashed into two others and I sickly laughed. Then I began speeding faster and I went through the streets of the village. I looked back and everything was quiet through the village. Then a snowmobile zoomed past me, and I sped after Soap. Then we continued driving. I noticed that he already dropped off Isabella. “Where the hell?” asked Soap. Then both mobiles stopped working. Out of gas. We began walking and Soap radioed in for the helicopter. Nothing.

    We found a little abandoned cave in the mountains and ran inside. We checked for bears and such and then sat in the back. The blizzard was picking up quick. We both were freezing, and there was a sharp pain in my side. “Ow!” I shouted in pain. Soap snapped his eyes over at me. I dropped my gun and took of my Artic coat, not caring if he found out that I was a girl or not. My Kevlar vest didn’t hide all parts of my body, including my left side. Where blood was pouring from. I touched it with my hand and looked at the blood coating my hand.

    “Darius!” shouted Soap.

    Everything went black and the ground rushed up suddenly.

    My days as Darius Deleon and possibly Rosalie Shay were over.



    I woke up in a daze. Soap was sitting next to me, and I realized that my jacket was still on, but it was open. My side was bandage and was throbbing with pain. I looked down. I gritted my teeth, suddenly ignoring the pain. I wore my black…t-shirt…

    I looked up at Soap quickly and he was looking down at me.

    We sat and stared at each other for a minute and then he spoke, turning from me. “I knew something was up when you were so concerned about me and that cashier.”

    “Captain, I’m sorry. It’s just that…” I pulled my hat off and unclipped my hair. I let it fall and he looked at me.

    “Rosalie Shay.”

    I didn’t say anything.

    Soap went quiet. I sat up and looked over at him. I went to say something, but he spoke first. “So…everything you said. Everything was a lie?”

    “I didn’t lie about everything. My brother, Darius Shay, was killed in the Task Force, and I wanted to follow him. My parents were both American and everything.” I said quietly. Tears stung my eyes. I looked out the cave entrance and noticed that there was a few inches of snow outside. The storm was still going on. I was going to be stuck here for a while.

    “Why didn’t you tell me?” Soap asked, pulling his jacket tighter to him.

    “I…didn’t know I could trust you.”

    Soap didn’t say anything, just looked over at me. “Rose…” he sighed.

    I scooted over to him, wrapping my arms around his chest and putting my head against his chest.

    He didn’t move, and then I felt his left arm go around my waist. He put his head against mine. I snuggled close to him. Maybe losing my Darius Deleon identity was a good thing.

    “Rose,” Soap said quietly. I shifted, letting him know that I was listening. “I won‘t tell them that you’re a girl.” he said softly. I looked up at him, moving back so I could see his face. He looked quite serious.

    “And why would you do that for me? I thought you didn’t like me…”

    Soap sighed, hiding his true feelings. He pulled me to him and I put my head on his chest again, but my eyes stayed open. He said, “I don’t know. Just…go to sleep. I‘ll stay on guard.”

    I couldn’t go to sleep just yet. His arms wrapped tightly around me and I was glad that I wasn’t posed as a guy anymore; this would have been extremely weird. I softly closed my eyes. My mind was going crazy as I could hear his heartbeat through his jacket. I began dosing off, still slightly shivering from the cold. Then I remembered that night before he left…

    I crammed it to the back of my mind. That painful night that he leaned in to kiss me. That night that we were so close, and then that dark green truck pulled up. That truck that he entered, looking back at me, sitting next to my brother. Then he mouthed: “I’m sorry.”