THE NEWS isn't taken well.

"What are you talking about?" Soap questions as he sits down beside her on the bed. "Makarov is in prison."

Ellie shakes her head. "He was there. I ran into him in the hallway."

"No," Price says quietly, starting to pace in the room. "It wasn't him. You're mistaken."

"I know what I saw, Price," she retorts. "He..."

She trails off, not wanting to admit how close he held her. She got a good look at him. Ellie knows it was him.

"He what?" Ghost asks, his face contorted in anger.

"I literally ran into him while I was coming out of the bathroom. He... he caught me." She sighs after she tells them. "He had the same tattoos. Same eyes. Same face. He spoke to me in Russian."

"What?! What did he say?" Soap asks, rising to his feet.

Price gets out his cell phone and excuses himself to the other room, shutting the door angrily. Gaz follows him. Ellie looks at Ghost with a desperate expression.

"Is he mad at me?"

He shakes his head. "No, he's worried. We weren't informed of an escape and now that you've come into contact with him, you could be a target." He pulls out the desk chair in front of her, leaning in close. "I want excruciating details of what happened."

She goes over their interaction, Ghost's muscles tensing when she talks about how he touched her and spoke to her. The pet name he called her. She hates it's making him so uncomfortable but that's how she felt. 

Price comes back into the room. He looks at Ghost and Ellie. "Get in uniform. We need to leave. Laswell is working on gathering what she can."

Ellie grabs her things, rushes to the bathroom, and strips off her dress and jewelry. Once she's in her uniform she washes off any makeup she was wearing. It was already starting to smear. She was sweaty inside the club. Now that the makeup is off she looks less disheveled. However, she has some dark circles under her eyes. Not the best day for her looks-wise. She throws her hair into a quick ponytail.

When she exits the bathrooms, the boys are waiting for her. Ellie grabs her duffle bag and follows them out of the hotel room. It's tense. She can tell how the news of Makarov is affecting them. They get to the car and Price pulls Ellie to the side. She can feel Ghost's eyes on them.

"Are you upset with me?" Ellie asks him, mouth going dry.

Price shakes his head. "Of course not. I just want you to be sure of what you saw..." he pauses before speaking again. "You're positive it was him?"

"Yes, I am. I know I've only seen him in pictures, but I'm telling you... it had to be him."

"I'm having Laswell check on the escape. She's also got a team working on CCTV footage at the club, see what we can get."

Ellie sucks in a sharp breath and asks, "Do you not believe me?"

"Ellison, it's not that. It's just I need to be 100% certain that is the case. Because if it is, we have a real problem on our hands. Bigger than anything we've dealt with. It's not that I don't believe you or don't trust you. I just need all the facts and details I can get before we make any big decisions."

"I understand. Can I ask you something?"

"Always."

"Does the name Milena mean anything to you?"

Simon and Ellie sit outside at the Al Mazrah base. They just landed an hour ago, and Gaz and Soap already getting some sleep. Ellie couldn't stay still long enough to have sleep find her. When she came outside, Ghost was already there. 

"The sky is beautiful today," Ellie sighs, staring out at the sunset. "Looks like cotton candy, the way the pinks and blues mix."

"Like what?"

Ellie turns to Ghost, brows quirked. "Cotton candy?"

"What is that?"

She gestures with her hands, saying, "You know, the sugary stuff. Looks like a cloud. Pink and blue? Melts in your mouth?"

He stares at her blankly before blinking once, nodding his head as he replies, "You mean candy floss."

"No, you Brit. I mean cotton candy."

"Where I'm from, it's candy floss."

"That's a lame name."

"Says the American."

She scoffs, laughing shortly. "Don't even go there, Mr. "Where's the other miss-isles?'" She mimics his deep English accent and then finds herself being pulled onto his lap.

"You think you're so clever," he teases, hands tickling her ribs, making her squeal. "I thought you liked my accent."

"I do! It's one of your best qualities," Ellie retorts through laughter. "Now stop before I pee on you."

He lets her go and Ellie catches her breath. "Surely that's not the only thing you like about me," he says quietly.

She sits up and faces him, noticing how the warmth of the golden hour melts his brown irises. So inviting. 

"You know it's not." She smirks. "It's the tattoos too."

He shoves her shoulder. "Brat," he tells her.

"I love that too," Ellie says as she smiles. "But, you obviously have many good things about you."

"Name them."

"Right now?"

"Yes."

She brings her knees to her chest, taking in a deep breath. "I love the way you look out for others. How even though you have such a hard exterior, you still care about your team. You would do anything for the people you care about. You're a fantastic Lieutenant who wants the best for his team. You want to do the job right. You don't compromise. You keep everyone humble."

She messes with a pebble on the ground, rolling it in between her fingers.

"Yes, I know you weren't always this way. You haven't revealed much about your past to me. I know you've had a lot of... healing to do. But, despite all of that, I think you're doing a great job. You... inspire me. To be better. To push through. You might not see yourself as much of a role model, but I think you're a great one. Just look at Soap. He really looks up to you."

Ghost huffs. "Johnny's a better man than I'll ever be."

"Don't say that," Ellie replies softly, kicking his boot with her foot. "You've done your fair share of bad things. We all have. You might have done more than most... but you're still a good man."

"You might just not know me well enough yet," he says, voice thick. "When you get down to the bare bones of me, you might not like who I am. What all I've done. What if it's more than you can handle?"

"I'm not perfect either."

"This isn't about perfection, Ellie. This is about my demented childhood, the hell I experienced as a young man, and how I became who I am," he replies firmly. "And to be honest, I don't know if I can ever share with you everything I've seen. Experienced."

"You don't have to," she retorts. "Have I told you everything about me? Good or bad?"

He watches her for a moment. "No."

"Has it made a difference to you?"

"No."

"Then, what does it matter? If you look for a reason to say whatever we're doing together isn't gonna work, you'll find one. I'm not asking you to bare your soul to me, Simon."

"If we're in this for the long run, you don't think you'll wanna know?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Okay. I think we've been doing fine for now. I won't ever ask you to relive and tell me what has happened to you. I know I'm more open than you are, we've already gone over that all those months ago. It's okay that you're not an open book like me."

"You'll get tired of me not disclosing things with you. I'm not much of a talker, especially when it comes to feelings. I hardly have any, unless it's about you or this job."

Ellie grimaces, shaking her head. "I won't get tired of you. Sometimes you exhaust me, yes, but we work through it. Can you promise to try and talk to me about things that bother you? Not stay silent?"

"I don't know if I can do that every time."

"Not every time. Just... try your best. If you can give me that... if you can give me your best, then the rest we can handle."

Ghost's eyes are fixed on hers, scanning her face. "I promise to give you my best." He speaks firmly. "I want you to promise me the same."

"I promise," Ellie says without missing a beat. "You have my best. Every time."

He nods, Ellie blinking in surprise when he sticks out his hand. 

"You want me to shake on it?" she asks. He nods again. She places her hand in his and they shake them, Ellie's mouth spreading into a smile. "You're so weird."

"What? Did you wanna pinky promise?" he questions, amusement in his voice. 

"No," she laughs. "By the way... why are you asking about that? Mentioning the long run? Are you... thinking about our future?" Ellie asks, hoping she hasn't embarrassed herself.

He shrugs, keeping it cool. "Might've."

"You're impossible."

"You love me anyway."

"I do," she laughs. 

But when she realizes what she just admitted to, Ellie drops his hand like it is on fire.

"I mean," she stammers, trying to recover. "What I meant by that-,"

"It's okay," he interrupts. "You don't have to backtrack."

"I think you walked me into that one."

His eyes are lit up in amusement. "I did. Had to get you to admit it one way or another."

"That's very kind of you, Ghost."

"You're blushing."

"Thanks, Sherlock."

"It's alright. I know I have that effect on people."

Ellie scoffs, punching him on the shoulder. Ghost laughs — genuinely — and pulls Ellie in closer. 

The door opens and Price walks out, eyes finding the two of them on the ground. "Lieutenant, I need you in my office. Got new information from Laswell." He looks at Ellie. "You need to get some rest. We'll be leaving soon."

Ghost stands, hand reaching down for Ellie to take, him helping her up off the ground. "How soon?" he asks Price.

"Tomorrow. We'll be debriefing as a team at 0500. Sun's about to set, so after meeting, Simon, you need to get some rest as well." Price's jaw firms. "It's gonna be a long mission."

Ghost nods. "Roger that." He looks to Ellie, squeezing her hand once. "Good night."

He walks in behind Price, Ellie turning away to hide her blush. Sleep finds her quick that night.