Belle glanced through the papers quickly which were scattered on her desk, having spent almost two weeks on the new base now and becoming more friendly with different soldiers and becoming more acquainted by the faces she saw every so often. She didn't want to curse it by saying that she felt welcomed by the big brawly men of the military, but it felt nice to feel like she was someone they could talk to. A few had even lingered by her office during her down time, making small talk and telling her about their stories while on missions or on tour. Then there was the single person who made her feel anything but welcomed and she tilted her head up to meet his eyes again. They were already locked on her.

"So," Belle smiled at Ghost despite the fact that she couldn't see his face and his eyes were cold as they focused on her. She clicked the pen in her hand as she sat across from him, still trying to do her job even if he was going to fight her on it every step of the way. "Tell me about your upcoming mission." She simply said as she wrote his name on the top of her notepad which he couldn't quite see. It was a way for her to keep her thoughts together while talking to the man, not that he talked much anyways.

"The one you won't clear me for?" His voice was cold but Belle refused to back down. It was true, she had refused to clear the note even after an email had appeared in her inbox from him requesting her to clear it. Well, it wasn't really requesting her to do so but more demanding that she does. And Belle wasn't going to give in that easy and allow the man to push her around, so she stood her ground.

"Yep." Belle nodded with a small nod, meeting his eyes and not looking away to try and show him that he wasn't going to scare her off by acting cold. A silence settled over the office, only broken by the steps that could heard from the foot traffic outside of the small room. The room had changed a little more each day since the first session they had together, and Ghost had taken notice of the small trinkets which were slowly building up on one of the shelves behind her. Belle breathes out. "Go on." She prompted when he didn't speak.

"You have the file." Ghost pointed out, knowing fully aware that even if he fought against it, the girl would be able to access any file on him if she were to ask for it. He found it extremely unfair that this girl was able to access information about him when he barely knew anything about her. He'd tried to find anything on Belle but all he'd managed to find out was that she was a few years younger than him, graduated from the academy with high scores and that she was, surprisingly, ranked as a Sergeant. Soap and Gaz had laughed at the frustration that Ghost had expressed when he learned that the girl was clearly more capable then he assumed, at least that's what it said on paper.

"I do." Belle said with a small nod, not going to lie about how she had read over the upcoming mission which she was acting as a buffer to him. It seemed like an interesting mission to say the least, clearing an old World War Two factory which was suspected to be turned into a weapon hold for a growing terrorist group. Belle had found herself pouring over the information the night before just so she could try to get an understanding of the work that the men she worked with did.

"So read that." Ghost said with a slight raise of his eyebrows. Belle stared at him for a moment, completely silent and obviously not at all impressed by the fact that he was flat out refusing to work with her. After a moment of silence she finally looked down at the notes in front of her, writing down that Ghost was still being difficult before leaning back in hear chair. She tried to think of any way to get him to actually talk to her instead of the short and cold answers which she'd only received during their sessions.

"Let's try something else then," Belle broke the silence again, leaning back in her chair and placing the pen down before she locked eyes with Ghost again. The man didn't look away as Belle stared at him, the hint of frustration hidden in her soft brown eyes and Ghost was almost impressed at how she was attempting to hide it so well. But he'd worked with people for a long time, he knew how to make people tick. The thing he forgot was that Belle knew how to do the same exact thing and had been taught it rather than just learnt it. "How is your day going Simon?" She asked smoothly and Ghost was almost surprised by the brunette using his real name rather then his rank or callsign. He couldn't remember the last time someone had called him Simon, even in his private life and in the darkness of his bedroom.

"Ghost." He corrected her, his tone flat and voice gravely as he looked at her. A hint of satisfaction crossed her face when she finally got a real reaction out of him and she crossed her arms lazily, relaxing in her chair. The desk acted as a buffer between them.

"Simon." She repeated as if it was nothing and an annoyance flashed in Ghost's icy cold gaze as he looked at Belle. Belle looked back at him, still not willing to back down in the small battle of stubbornness.

"It's Ghost." Ghost told her, his voice slightly harder than before and Belle tilted her head just barely, a smile daring to appear on her lips but she refused it.

"Lieutenant Riley." Belle offered instead and Ghost blinked once as he stared at her. His mind raced and she smiled, his eyes narrowing as he realized that she was intentionally trying to get a reaction out of him.

"Do you not listen?" Ghost asked, not completely falling for her bait but at the same it was frustrating for her to not listen to him over something so simple such as his literal name. No one called him Lieutenant Riley or Simon; those names were saved for occasions. Ghost would do.

"No," Belle shrugged a little as she stared at him, not bothering to lie about how she wasn't exactly listening to him right now since he clearly wasn't taking this session seriously. "But I'm trying to get a better read on you." She tells him and another silence falls over the two of them, locked in a gaze, soft brown eyes locking with icy blue ones without intimidation. "So, how was your day so far Simon?" She asked once again, showing that she wasn't going to back down from this and was going to get an answer from him.

"I've been having a bad day for the past several years Isabelle." Ghost said after a moment, her name leaving his lips as a form of bait as well. He wasn't going to allow her to think that she was holding all the power by using his name and he could use the same tactics that she would. Isabelle's eyebrows raised for a fraction of a second and she leaned back in her chair.

"Shame." Belle said, not offering him anything other than that before she picked up her pen. Ghost scowled a little under his mask, not sure what she could be writing down on her pad after that kind of statement. He went to speak but she easily beat him to it. "Why'd you join the military Simon?"

"You're asking questions that're right in front of you Isabelle." Ghost said, his voice lower as she so easily moved to the topic of his past. She stared at him with eyes that let him know that she knew more then what she might be letting on and that made Ghost shift in his seat, studying her face for any hint as to what she knows. There was a falsified report on his file about his past and for some reason he knew that Isabelle had most likely seen right past it's lies.

"I prefer to hear the truth." She said, which of course only confirmed what he had been thinking. The silence returned, heavier this time at the topic at hand and how much Ghost truly didn't want to discuss this with her. She was getting on his nerves.

"I don't like you." Ghost said, not looking away from her, his voice colder then before and Isabelle didn't glance away like others usually did when he showed that hint of hostility.

"Too bad I'm the one who controls if you end up on this mission or not." Belle reminds him so casually, not glancing away and keeping her gaze locked on him. Ghost's hand clenches into a fist, out of her gaze to hide his frustration as she tells him what is technically the truth. She holds the true power between the two of them even if Ghost is the bigger threat.

"Watch yourself." Ghost simply says to her, not dropping the hostility and Belle blinks, tilting her head up a little as her eyes study his posture and hidden expression.

"Is that a threat Simon?" Belle asks, knowing the answer already but daring him to keep going down the path he was choosing to take with her. They could so easily make each other's lives hell and that was the realization between the two of them as they locked eyes once again. Her calmness, how unbothered she was by his hostility was new to Ghost and he didn't like it. At all.

"Did it sound like a compliment Isabelle?" Ghost says, his voice cold and tone filled with forced calmness. The two continued staring at each other, a situation which neither were familiar with yet were going to have to adapt to. The silence was heavy, waiting to be broken yet neither made an effort to speak as they looked at each other. It was a chess game, both the Lieutenant and the Sergeant waiting for the other to make a mistake so they could win the game. Then the small timer on Belle's desk went off and she reached to turn it off but Ghost hit it first before storming out of the room.