"Anger is never without reason, but seldom with a good one." ~ Benjamin Franklin

Soap released the slide on his pistol and it snapped loudly, echoing in the armory. His pale blue eyes caught Jessica across the room when she flinched. "Y'all right?" he asked.

She wasn't looking at him when she shook her head. "I don't know... I guess I'm still recouping after Iraq." she murmured.

"Well, it has only been three days, Gal; I don't blame ya." he said. "But, ya better get your act together. Price won't want ya to be so glum, ya know."

Her hazel eyes slowly rolled over to him with a blank, glassy look, her expression unreadable. "You think I'd let him know I wasn't feeling well? Price get's so protective of me, which is cute, but I don't like him getting on my case."

Soap laughed. "Aw, a cute li'le thing like you doesn't like to be worried about? I'm surprised, honestly." he teased.

An animal growl rattled in her throat, but Soap could see she was trying not to let the edge of her mouth turn up in a smile. "... I'm not cute..." she whined quietly.

"Uhn!" Jessica sputtered and finally gasped a deep, raspy breath. Damn. Beaten again.

Price stepped into the ring and tapped Ghost on the chest to usher him back. He rigidly grabbed Jess by the scruff and picked her back up onto her feet. "Your head doesn't seem to be in the game today, Gal," he growled. "I can't keep you here if you aren't going to work."

Her eyes didn't meet his, and she huffed. "Yes, sir... I know..."

Ghost shook out his arms. "You're lucky I don't want to break your nose; I could have done some real damage to you had I meant to," he said as Price walked past him; Jessica noticed Price tense at the notion. 

She rolled a shoulder. "Yeah... You're lucky my head's not in the game, 'cause you're starting to piss me off, and I could do you some real damage..."

"Is that a threat, or a promise..?" he purred, shooting her a wink.

"Just shut up and fight me, Ghost."

He chuckled and started pacing. "What's gotcha out of it?" he asked. 

"Stuff..." 

His hand swung through the air and nearly caught her in the chest before she blocked it with a surprised gasp. "If you're still thinking about the other day, get off it; nothing you can do."

She connected her foot with the back of his knee and sent him to the floor. "So what? Doesn't mean it's not still burned into my memory."

Ghost grabbed her by the elbow and thrashed her against the floor suddenly, and knelt over her, pulling back his fist to finish the fight. "Quite frankly, Gal, I'd have shot him myself; Op-Four is Op-Four, doesn't matter how old he is. the Russians just saved us the effort..."

Soap bristled at the sound of shrieking, and looked over his shoulder, stopping his spar with Wolcroft. "What the hell...?"

Price dashed into the tangle of Ghost and Galaxy, who was holding him down with his head between her jaws. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he cried. "Break it up!"

"Tell her to get off me!" cried Ghost frantically. 

"Tell him to apologize!" snarled Gal, biting down a little harder. 

The Captain clenched his fists in frustraition. "Gal, drop him."

She lashed her tail. "Tell this heartless piece of shit to apologize first, then," she replied.

"For bloody what?!" yelped Ghost before she snarled and set her teeth into his head again.

"Yes, for what?" asked Wolcroft aiming his pistol at her, his jaw clenched to keep it from trembling. 

"For calling Abdul a terrorist, and wanting to shoot him," she growled.

"I was just trying to get a rise out of you!" 

Price glared at Ghost. "Obviously it worked, mate." He looked at Galaxy again. "Don't you think killing him is a bit much?"

"It might make me feel better..." she rumbled. "I don't like racists, and I certainly don't like child-killers..."

Ghost pried against her face. "Again, I say, I was getting a rise out of you. Besides, who's to say I'm not right about him being Op-For?" 

"What..?!" Price exclaimed.

The team lurched when Gal yanked her head back, thankfully only taking Ghost's mask with the motion. She pinned him down and bared her teeth. "He was a boy! A little boy who understood that we were friends. So for you to claim that those God-damned Russians saved us the effort is more than an insult; bite your tongue before I rip it out!"

"Both of you, knock it off!" barked Price. "Gal, get off of Ghost; Ghost..." He waited until Galaxy had backed off some, and he cuffed the back of Ghost's ear. "Stop being an ass, will you?" He swore under his breath, shaking his head. 

Gal shifted, and looked past the Captain at Ghost, who was being helped up by Soap and Roach. "I'm sorry, I lost my head," she said flatly.

"No shit," said Ghost, looking back at her.

Price motioned the others away, but held Ghost and Jess back. "Both of you are dismissed."

Ghost looked taken aback. "What??"

"You deaf?" the Captain shot back. "You're done; both of you put your things away and get out of here. I don't want to see you here; go back to your quarters and I'll find a suitable punishment. Go."

She fought off a growl; she wouldn't be caught dead baring her teeth at her Captain, especially after the antic she had just pulled. "Yes, sir." Jess said, and turned away to leave. Though she wasn't in the form to do so, she could almost feel her tail tucked between her legs in shame. God, what had she done?

Price sighed and looked at Ghost as Jessica left, and stopped the Sergeant. "You alright? You look like you're bleeding pretty bad. We should get you to the medical ward."

"I'm fine..." said Ghost, shaking his head and picking up his mask. "I'm sure it's nothing a few bandages can't fix."

The Captain sighed. "You should have known better than that; I know you're already a hardened veteran, but we have no place for comments like that around here. You understand?"

Ghost put his mask back on and looked at him with a nod. "Yes, sir."

Galaxy's ear rotated toward the front door when Price knocked on it. When she didn't make a sound, he cautiously opened the door. 

"You in here?" he asked.

She hummed, uninterested.

He sat on the sofa next to the gigantic blue-grey wolf. "What the hell happened out there with you? I know you better than to attack your teammates like that."

"I know," she whimpered, adjusting so that she was curled into a tighter ball.

"Then why'd you do it?" 

Her tail covered her face. "Because I hated him saying he would have shot Abdul himself."

Price's face was stony. "I know, and I told him that, but that's still no excuse to hurt him. You could have killed him."

"I know... I'm sorry..."

Price folded his hands. "... What am I supposed to do with you?"

She winced. "Whatever you want, just please don't get rid of me... I won't do it again."

"How do I know that?"

"Because I've never done it before, and I keep my promises, sir."

He looked at her. "Well, that's good, because I've decided to put you on restriction for a week. You're not to come back to the base, and you're to promise me you'll stay in this house for the next seven days."

Galaxy held his gaze for a moment, silently gagging on the bile of accepting the punishment for her actions. "... Yes, sir. That's only fair..."

"Good." He sighed and laid his head back on the couch. His voice was soft. "You know I don't want to do this, but I can't let either of you off easy. If I don't hold you accountable, how will the rest of the team respect me?"

She shifted and sat up. "You don't need to defend your actions, John," she said. "I know what I did was wrong, and I know you have a reputation to uphold... It still stings that I have to face the consequences of my own actions, but I get it."

Price looked at her, and grinned vaguely. "Well, thank you. I'm glad you understand." He stood up and started for the door. "Give me a call if you need anything, a'ight?"