The nightfall came sooner than she thought.

Her foot stomped heavily on the dusty, dry ground, eyes narrowing as she scanned the horizon. She was glad the burning sun finally submerged, leaving millions of stars to shine above them, the heat of the day still lingering between the soldiers.

Even after two coffees, her headache didn't seem to disappear, a dull pain constantly lingering, making her a little more on the edge. Her temper was already pretty bad to begin with, let alone when she had a headache that clung to her like wet socks. It made her want to punch something.

And Hassan's face looked really punchable as Alejandro pushed him to the ground. Graves was busy with setting up a laptop on top of a car's hood, it angled so Shepherd and Laswell could get the perfect shot of the interrogation.

Rora pushed herself off the side of the truck she was standing next to, the sudden movement causing some black dots to dance before her eyes. She ignored them, shooking her hands off by her side, but a hand on her shoulder caused her to halter in her steps.

With a confused look overtaking her features, she turned around to see Ghost standing behind her, his eyes slipping to the others behind her before his dark gaze met again with her blue one. In the dark, the only light being some of the headlights of the cars around them, her eyes were dark like the deepest ocean, holding so much anger that he was sure she could set the world on fire and still laugh.

A scene from earlier flashed before his eyes, reminding him why he stopped her from participating in the whole interrogation.

Busting through the door, Rora was immediately sent to the floor by brute force, a groan escaping her lips.

Ghost was just behind her, the loud thud of her head banging against the dirty floor ringing some alarms in his head as he eliminated the threat. Offering her one of his skeleton-gloved hands, he pulled her to her feet, pretending to not notice the way she almost immediately lost her balance.

„Wells-" he called out, watching as she reached up to her temple, crimson blood tinting her slender fingers. It wasn't that big of a cut, but the bruising will be guaranteed.

„I'm fine, Lt.," she sniffled, dusting her hands off, flashing him one of her signature smirks. It didn't reach her eyes this time. „I've been through worse."

And with that, she stepped further into the room, Alejandro and Soap tackling down Hassan. The Colonel cuffed the man they spent so much time and energy hunting down, barely believing that he was in front of them.

Just as Rora wanted to make sure he wasn't just an anomaly, a daydream, perhaps, she picked her right leg with momentum, landing a hard kick into the knees of Hassan, harsh Arabic slurs erupting from his throat as a sinister smirk played on her lips.

„Someone get their bitch from my face!" he spat in front of her on the floor, a dark frown deepening his features, sending a hateful look to all of them.

„Woof," Rora taunted, squatting in front of him, her grip on her pistol tightening.

„What?" Rora asked, an impatient sigh leaving her lips as she shifted her weight on her legs.

„Fall back," he let his hand fall back to his side, tilting his head slightly to the side to get a better look at her face. „You're starting to take this to a personal level."

Shock made her eyes widen as she huffed out a breath, crossing her arms in front of her chest to stop them from shoving him out of her way, landing a hard punch to Hassan's face.

She had anger issues, and the fucking headache didn't make things better.

„What do you mean?" Rora quirked a dark eyebrow at him, straightening her spine. She wasn't that small of a woman, she never considered herself small. But standing next to him, she felt like a child trying to stand up to their parents, demanding justice.

Her cold stare usually made men back down, but it didn't seem to work on him in the slightest, holding her gaze with no problem.

„That whole scene back in the compound area, that was personal," Ghost pointed it out, mirroring her position by crossing his arms in front of his vested chest. Her eyes briefly wandered to his biceps, ignoring the way he just became two times more menacing. „You'll shoot him in the head, I can't let that happen."

Rora clenched her jaw, a muscle tensing alongside her defined jaw. He had seen this look on her before: when he scolded her for being crazy and running out to a field full of armed men with only an RPG on her shoulder, but this time he knew her motives better.

It was clearly personal, her frustration mirroring the other men around them, and while they could put aside their anger and concentrate on the task, her fiery temper couldn't let things slide that easily.

„Not even in the knee?" Rora tried, her frustration with Ghost growing, angry at herself for being such an open book. Or he was just good at reading people. Either way, it was annoying.

„No."

„C'mon, one knee cap. He has two for a reason," she pleaded, getting more desperate by the minute. She stood by the fact that there was no man she would kneel before, but she was getting ready to plead on her knees for him if it meant that she could do whatever she wanted.

„Wells," his tone now came off as a warning. „No."

A frustrated groan left her throat, turning back around to face the scene, Ghost's presence almost burning her left side as he stood beside her. Giving him one more look that clearly said please, he threw a cold side-glance at her way, his attention turning back to the interrogation in front of him.

She would've argued with him, but right now the headache made her shut up for once, leaning her hip against the truck next to her, her arms staying crossed in front of her so she wouldn't slap anyone across the face.

„Alright, we are live, folks," Graves announced, walking in front of Hassan, Alejandro standing close behind him with his gun in his hands.

„Do you speak Arabic?" Hassan looked up to the Shadow Commander in front of him.

„No."

„Farsi?" he tried again, his voice surprisingly calm despite the situation.

„No," Graves slid his thumb under his vest, not looking bothered at all.

„Course not," Hassan's lips pulled into the slightest smirk, it disappearing quickly as he let his eyes wander to the rest of the group. „Then I'll speak your bastardized medieval English because you are all uneducated street dogs."

Rora turned her head to look at Ghost, her eyes pleadingly sending him please, not even a finger? He felt her gaze on him, eyes meeting, his gaze sending her a clear don't even think about it.

Rolling her eyes, she turned her attention back.

„Ahh, see..." Graves groaned, kicking his feet against the dried-up ground. „We're getting off to a bad start here, Hassan."

„You are talking to a Quds Force officer," Hassan stood his ground, his gaze stone cold as he looked at the man standing in front of him.

„You're the commander of a foreign terror organization," Graves enunciated, slowly showing signs of losing his patience.

Thank God Ghost didn't let her near Hassan, she would've kicked a tooth out at this point.

„I can say the same to you," he implied, sending the American a pointed look.

Multiple teeth.

„What's your target, 'Major'?"

„I can make him talk," Rora tried again, whispering to the masked man beside her while her right hand subconsciously played with her lighter. A barely audible sigh left him. „Give me two minutes, he will be singing like a mockingbird."

„Stand down, Wells," Ghost said, his tone not leaving room for argument. But despite it, the woman opened her mouth to try and talk him into her idea, but Hassan's words piqued her interest.

„So insolent and foul-mouthed. You will learn to respect me when your nation sees fire."

The clicking of her lighter drew the attention of Soap, his features sharp and cold in the dim light. With his finger on the trigger, standing only a foot away from Graves, he looked more pissed than she have ever seen him. She knew the hard stare was not pointed at her, so she sent an apologetic, friendly smile his way, his cold demeanor softening slightly.

„You are in bed with the cartel, Hassan," Graves stepped closer to the man kneeling in front of him, towering over him. „If you disappeared, no one would know where to look for the fuckin' stain."

A dry chuckle left Hassan's lips, his gaze finding Rora's in no time. The flame of her lighter gave her face a menacing light, her features sharpening in the shadows, hips propped against the cold truck. The long scar crossing her cheek was more dominant, popping in the sharp light, looking like the Grim Reaper herself.

„I have no doubt you'll take pleasure in torturing me," Hassan commented, his eyes flashing to Graves before they connected with hers again. A sadistic smirk played on her lips, and with a click, she snapped the lighter closed, dying the flame out.

„Who'd you get American missiles from?" Soap took the word, her gaze holding Hassan's. There was no way she would be the one to break the cold eye contact.

Of course, he was the first to look away.

„I don't care who they're from, I wanna know where they're going," Shepherd's voice echoed from the laptop they were watching the whole scene unfold, the edge of his voice cutting through the air.

For a few heartbeats, silence fell above them, the eerie howling of some animal in the distant plains voicing its presence, a few others following after it. So far, Rora failed to notice how scary this was: imagining surviving in the dark here, made her skin crawl.

Graves stepped away, looking around like he could spot the animals far away from them, them lurking in the dark. A slight breeze brushed against the nape of her neck, her hair in a tight bun exposing her sensitive skin, a chill running along her spine.

„Take a look around, Hassan," the Shadow Commander turned, opening his arms like a master of a circus, showing the audience the greatest trick in his sleeve. He leaned forward, looking Hassan in the eyes. „Now you can either become part of the food chain or you can start talking."

She preferred the latter, and the anticipation caused her to fidget more. She shifted her weight again, her shoulder almost brushing against Ghost's. The small action caused him to turn his head to her, eyes scanning her face. Her face was hard like it was carved out of stone by the most delicate hands of the best sculptor, her being their masterpiece. The fire burning in her eyes was eager to get out and cause destruction, him watching as the flames danced behind her eyes. She was the most beautiful disaster he have ever seen.

„I'm a hostage here. This is illegal," Hassan protested, the smallest hint of panic showing through his words.

„You're a prisoner of war," Alejandro grumbled, his hard hand pressing down on Hassan's shoulder, keeping him in place. He was so friendly and warm to them, seeing his cold side was like meeting a whole other person, it amazed her. But as she thought about it, she was completely different during missions, too.

„Iran is not at war with Mexico. I've broken no laws," the man argued, moving around in the grasp of Alejandro, shooting a dirty look towards her and Ghost. „These men and women and their commanders are the lawbreakers."

„You and your beloved General Ghorbrani broke every-„

„Do not speak his name!" Haasan bellowed, cutting off Soap. Rora's hand reached to the pistol holstered on her thigh, ready to interject if things got out of hand. „You executed him and you will pay for your crimes..."

He showered them in Arabic slurs, Rora sending another look to Ghost. He didn't take his eyes off the man struggling on the ground, Alejandro's grip tightening around his shoulder.

„I want this bastard in permanent custody or looking up at the goddamn grass," Shepherd ordered, voice cold, booming from the speakers of the laptop.

In Rora's opinion, that could've been a little overkill. Sure, she wanted to torture him for being such a pain in the ass, but killing him right then and there wasn't exactly that sat right with her. She sought chaos, not death.

Before the tension could erupt between them, a smooth voice interjected.

„General, killing Hassan is an act of war, keeping him is illegal. Right now, he's too hot to hold."

Rora recognized Kate Laswell's voice, a small smile playing on her lips, up until the moment her mind processed her words. After that, her brows furrowed, shoulders tensed.

She did not just say that.

„Ghost?" her voice called out, it almost getting drowned out by Shepherd's tone, but the lieutenant picked up on it just fine, his eyes jumping to her face.

Graves walked up to the laptop, hunching over it so he could look straight into the camera, a muscle pulsating in his jaw as he clenched his teeth together.

„Actual, let me finish this," he seethed, frustration bubbling inside him. Rora felt sympathy towards him because, after all, it was not only their mission, the Shadow Company was part of it, too.

„There is nothing I would like more. But Laswell's right. Without proof, we need to turn him loose. See where he leads us."

Those words were like shattered glass, pushing into her soft skin, sinking deep into her heart, and twisting everything inside. Her hands went cold as she sunk her short nails into her palms, creating small half-moon-shaped patterns.

„You can't let this happen," her voice tremored as she looked up at Ghost, her stare so intense he struggled to keep it for a moment. His dark eyes wandering back to Soap, who sought comfort in him, too.

„He's right here. You can't be serious!" Soap sounded desperate, stepping closer to Graves, his rifle hanging by his side. The anger made his tone several shades darker, his accent stronger than before. A sigh left Shepherd.

„I'm afraid I am, son."

„You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Rora fumed, the fire of her lighter being nothing compared to the fire in her eyes.

„Did we get anything from his phone?" Ghost interjected, directing his words to Laswell, who was working in the background the whole time.

„Affirmative. We got a hit."

Her words were quiet, but it was like the sweetest melody, somewhat soothing the fire inside her, begging to get released, consuming the world. But a hand smoothed over her shoulder blade, the weight of it somehow pushing down the urge to bring destruction. Her gaze flicked towards the hand, meeting with a familiar skeleton print, crystalline eyes wandering to meet with dark ones.

He was like a safe house in the middle of her havoc, grounding everything, remaining solid, and offering shelter. He was the only one that could face her wrath and fire, and still not back down, and somehow, in the process, anchor her, too.

„We'll get him next time, Aurora," his voice was much softer, compared to the ones he used, sensing how she was on the verge of a breakdown. Just as he stepped past her, his hand slipped from her shoulder, a heavy feeling pulling her heart down.

It was the first time he addressed her by her name.