HIS FACE is not what she expected. She couldn't lie — Ellie had wondered what he would look like under the mask. She never thought she'd actually get to see it.

The way the almost faded black paint sits against his fair skin makes his brown eyes look warm. They're deep set on a strong and, what she would describe, masculine face. Long eyelashes, she already knew he had. Prominent jawline. Strong chin, with a nose that sticks out at an angle. His lips are full and pink. A healed scar runs along his high cheekbone, coming close to the top of his lip. Those lips, corners of them turned into what seemed like a permanent frown. How could someone look so menacing and devastatingly beautiful, all at the same time?

His eyes scan the faces of the soldiers around the table with an unreadable expression. She'd love to get inside that head of his.

"Good to see you again, Simon," Price greets, smile on his face.  Alejandro and Soap are smirking and nodding at him. Price sets his hat down and addresses the group. "If you're in, take a mask... If you're not... Don't."

Price is the first to take one, then Simon. Ellie watches as he grips it in his gloved hands. When she looks up, she meets his eyes. They're on her as he pulls it over his head and secures it in place. He is looking at her almost expectantly. She knows if there was a time as any to back out, now would be it.

But she won't. She can't. She doesn't want to.

Most everyone has theirs on, Ellie grabbing one and placing it over her head. She tries to ignore how annoying the fabric feels on her. She wonders how Simon handles wearing it so often. Once everyone is secure with their masks it's time to regroup and go over what they know and what the plan is. Alejandro speaks first and Ellie tries to pay attention but her mind just replays watching Ghost take off his mask. The way he stood there, beautiful and deadly, all at the same time. The way his light brown hair almost seemed to have a slight curl to it.

It's good to have a face to the gruff British voice that likes to chastise her.

"My troops know the Fuerzas Especiales facility better than Shadow," Alejandro explains. "So, we'll have the advantage. Be advised, they'll be on high alert because of the prison break. We'll infiltrate the base with two Ghost Teams. Team-1 is me, Gaz, Price, and one pilot. Team-2 is Ghost, Soap, Ellie, and Rudy. Los Vaqueros will be assisting them also."

He looks around at the team.

"My team will find and secure Valeria. Team-2 will find and kill Graves. I suspect he will be in my HQ with his best shooters."

"Probably will have Grady and Jake," Ellie adds, the men turning to her. "They're some of the best shots now. It was Erikson and Vance, but... they died when the missiles got stolen." She sighs. "We were in the same truck."

"It's good you can provide us intel, Ellie," Price says reassuringly. "You know Graves better than anyone here. You can tell us what he's most likely to do."

She nods. "I will. Whatever info you need, I'll give it to you."

"I'm surprised you're here, Ellie," Alejandro says. "Not that I think you'd betray us too, but that it would be hard for you to face off against Graves."

"It is, in a way. But I'm just pissed he'd spit on the boys' graves that died trying to transport those missiles. If we would have known... if they would have just been honest, we could have done things differently. Or maybe it wouldn't have mattered, I don't know... My brain is just trying to make sense of it. Turn the illogical into logical."

"That's not a good road to go down, hermana..." Alejandro tells her. "Best not to try and make sense of it. It'll all be over soon for the cabrón anyway." His eyes soften as he adds, "Puede que no te traiga la paz, pero al menos Graves no puede lastimar a nadie más."

"Sí. Ése es el único consuelo," Ellie replies, smiling sadly. "Let's get it done."

—

"Soap, Miller, check that door," Ghost orders over the comms.

For the past fifteen minutes, they've done nothing but shoot, fight, and kill Shadows. Vaqueros and the 141. No sign of Graves yet, however, Ghost seems to think he might be inside the main HQ. The one where they still have Alejandro's flag flying.

"Sergeant, try the entry," Ghost repeats.

Soap nods to Ellie as the post up on either side of it. After he reloads, Soap pulls on the handles, door not budging.

"It's locked," Soap announces, Rudolfo and the other boys coming up at that time. "Rudy, what do you got?"

Ghost leans against the wall beside Ellie as Rudy places a breacher charge on the door to blast it open. "Clear to engage all threats inside. If you see Graves, drop him." Everyone nods, Ghost turning to Ellie with intense eyes.

He doesn't have to say any words to let her know what he's thinking.

He moves in front of her, blocking her from the charge that's about to go off. Rudy counts down and presses the trigger. The door flies open then, everyone raising their guns and scanning inside. Ellie watches as Graves runs on the second floor, her calling it out over the radio.

As they make their way up the steps, Shadows start firing at them, Ellie and Soap hiding behind one of the pillars on the second floor's hallway. Soap throws a grenade across the way to them, bodies flying out after it goes off. Ellie grimaces and tries to blink away the memories of that August night. It seems like the bloodshed never ends.

Once they clear the second floor, they realize Graves ran out of the exit that is in the control room. Ghost sounds agitated.

"Haul arse, let's find him," he states over the radio.

Ellie's heart beats rapidly, sweat dripping off her forehead. The thought of what's about to happen to her long-time best friend makes her want to vomit. He did this to himself.

Price's voice comes over the earpiece, him in a helicopter above the base with Alejandro's pilot. "All stations, be advised. Graves went over the wall."

A loud whoosh and a bright ball of light and then the helicopter is in flames.

"RPG!" Ghost shouts from behind Ellie, them running outside and across the parking lot.

The helicopter starts spinning, Price calling, "We're hit! We're going down!"

Ellie gasps in horror, smoke rising from it as it goes behind a large building, the crash shaking the ground. Soap cusses as they all start rushing over to behind the building they crashed by. They are blocked by a large cement wall, the one Price informed them Graves went over.

"Captain!" Ellie yells.

"It's Graves! Let's get over and stop him," Rudy commands.

Ellie knows her eyes are revealing all her emotions from behind this skull mask.

"Rudolfo, what's on the other side?" Soap asks as he gives Rudy a boost to go over the wall. Rudy then gives him a hand. He looks to Ghost and Ellie expectantly. "You two coming?"

Ellie meets Ghost's eyes. He shakes his head for them both. "No, Price and the pilot need help. You two finish this," Ghost answers, voice firm.

It's calm for a moment, then Soap and Rudy double-take at something over the wall. They jump down on the other side and Ellie wishes she could see through it.

"Graves brought a tank!" Soap shouts over the radio.

A loud explosion rings out and Ellie wants to punch Graves in the face. She can't believe what he's done. What he's done to them and to her.

"Let's move," Ghost orders, gripping Ellie's upper arm and pulling her alongside them as they jog over to the crash site.

Ellie can't bring herself to look up at him as she whispers, "Thank you."

She can feel his eyes burning through her as a tear rolls down her cheek, the fabric of the mask absorbing it up. The light squeeze she feels on her arm is reassuring.

TRANSLATIONS
Puede que no te traiga la paz, pero al menos Graves no puede lastimar a nadie más: It might not bring you peace, but at least Graves can't hurt anyone else.
Sí. Ése es el único consuelo: Yes. That's the only consolation.