Unwavering Promises Chapter 5
I'm still working my way through posting full chapters of my finished fic. I should be posting my OC's POV but Simon's POV is just so much better for this chapter.
No content warnings, 5.7k words.
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Rosaly POV
Enjoy <3
Price’s alarm woke me from my sleep. I opened my eyes the room was still dark I could hear Price getting out of bed but he still had not stopped the alarm.
“For the love of God Price please.” I hear Rosaly say her voice still sounds sleepy. I smile. Price turns it off then turns the room light on. I hear her groan and shuffle around in her bed.
“It’s like basic all over again.” I hear her muffled voice say.
“Well aren't you a joy to be around?” Price says stretching. I get up looking for my trousers on there is a knock at the door instinctively grab my mask pulling it on. I hear Price open it and say morning to whoever is on the other side. I hear a voice tell Price the mess hall closes at 8 for breakfast. I hear Rosaly grumble again as I pull on a shirt. I hate how close she is and we can’t even touch. Knowing she is on the other side of the wardrobe to me is somewhat of a comfort. I pull my shirt on just as Price comes round the corner. He nods at me, I guess just checking to see if I’m awake.
“You should come get some breakfast with us Williams then come watch the shooting.” Price says. I throw my jacket on.
“Yeah maybe you will be able to pick up some tips.” I say walking round the wardrobe to see her head shoved under her pillow. I sat on the end off my bed pulling my boots on.
“Meet you down there LT.” Price said.
“‘Course.” I said hearing the door close.
“The light Price!” Rosaly called. I chuckled I tied my boots up and went to see here taking the pillow off her head. I squinted was she wearing my shirt, I thought I was missing one I assumed I had just left it at the house. I smile as she looks at me with her eyes half open.
“Could have told me you were pinching one of my shirts.”
“It smells like you,” She says smiling. I want to kiss her for that. I look at the door, anyone could come in, I’ll find time for her later.
“You going to come for some breakfast?” She seemed pretty wake now. She nods.
“I’ll see you down there then.” I say leaving.
I found Price in the canteen it was pretty empty considering it was 5:30. I grabbed some food and coffee and went to sit with him.
“What’s the word then? They still got the go ahead?” He nods, spreading butter on his toast.
“Hopefully we should be out here before the end of the week. There is one team in India they can maybe pull back if not we would have to wait for the team doing training in Australia to come home.” I push my mask past my nose and take a sip of coffee.
“Have the Americans been sniffing around this?” I ask.
“Laswell’s keeping an eye on things. So far it seems like everything’s going well. The only thing that could stop us is MI5 cancelling the mission.” Marines were starting to come in for their breakfast now lining up.
“Whats the plan for today?” I ask.
“Marksmanship, accuracy under pressure these guys have one week left of training they should be fine.”
“Easy day then,” I smile, Price rolls his eyes.
“Hopefully.” I smile spooning more eggs into my mouth.
“Is Williams going to be joining us?” Price asked sipping his tea. I nod. I finished eating as the canteen started to fill.
“Ready?” Price asks finishing his tea. I nod pulling my mask back down. We make our way to the outdoor shooting range at the bottom the the hill. It’s cold and the fog is staring to roll in if it gets any worse we might have to move inside. It reminds me of Scotland. I see a group of marines being led over by another officer. The officer introduces us then Price takes over. I’m barely listening to what he is saying. I wonder when Rosaly would show up. Nope I can’t be thinking about her now work time.
“So who want’s to go first?” Price asked. No one moved he sighs and picks a random person.
“You, what’s your name?”
“Taylor, sir.” He says getting up.
“I want you to pick one of your teammates, someone who you could trust to have your back and cover you.” I smiled the amount of times I have seen Price do this and it always riled people up. Accuracy under pressure though, that was the plan. Taylor looks around at the people behind him. Price looks at me raising an eyebrow. More pressure? I raise an eyebrow back. He looks back at the troop.
“Wright, I would pick him.” He says as he sits back down. The other guy gets up.
“Okay, lets see what you’ve got.” He follows him down to the pit.
“5 rounds, 100 meter target, no pressure but if you miss that’s Taylor dead.” Price pats him on the shoulder and moves so he is not in the way. Wright stands for a few seconds then fires of the rounds pretty quick one after the other. Price looks over as Wright clears his barrel. Then he turns back to the troop.
“Taylor’s dead who want’s to cover for Wright?” Price says. Wright does not look too impressed, I can’t see his shots well enough from over here but Price does not sound happy. I fold my arms watching the next guy get up. This continues for a while each one trying and failing, I hear Rosaly walk up beside me.
“How’s it going?” She asks. I look over she has her hands round a coffee mug. Price came over shaking his head and took it out her hands.
“I’ve seen better shooting from you.” I replied loud enough so the marines could hear. Rosaly took her cup back from Price. The latest marine had just finished shooting. It was bad Price had been pacing ever since the third person tried.
“Okay stop!” He said. “LT get up here.” I sighed going over to him and taking one of the training rifles. They’re so light and not what I’m used to at all. Now I was under pressure, and there was no way I was going to show Price up. I see Rosaly move down out the corner of my eye. I stand in position, Price explains what I’m doing as I fire when he tells me too. Okay these shots were easier then I thought they were going to be. I fire off 3 more then hang the weapon back up. I go back to stand with Rosaly, she’s smiling.
“Nice shooting,” She says leaning in. I smile crossing my arms again.
“Not really fair to put us up against a world class marksman.” The next marine says getting into position. Price stops him from stepping in the pit.
“Williams!” He shouts, she passes her cup to me and heads over picking up a weapon and checking the mag.
“What cos she’s a woman?” He says, I hear her chuckle.
“Worse, I’m navy.” He scoffs and I watch her fire the rounds off. All on target, not as compact as mine but better then we’ve been saying today. She clears the weapon hanging it back on the rack. She smiles at Price walking back over to me taking her cup.
“Nice shooting,” I say to her.
“Shut up,” I can hear her smile as she nudges me.
“It does not matter if you’re an expert marksman or a Navy medic, your shots should be hitting on point. This is your final week of training and you’re shooting like this is the first time you have a weapon in your hands. Shooting straight could be the difference between life or death, or the life and death of your brothers.” Price says. I feel Rosaly pat me on the shoulder and I hear her leaving. I watch as the next marine steps up and fires, again it’s all over the place. Price walks up to me squeezing his temples.
“What do you think?” He asks leaning into me. I look at him.
“Want to run them around inside for a bit?” I suggest shrugging.
“If they can’t hit standing targets how do you think they’re going to do with moving targets?” He says.
“Hopefully better.” I respond. He smiles.
We walk them to the classroom Rosaly has set up in for the medical lecture, she smiles at us as we arrive but we don’t stick around Price insists I join him in this meeting. We make our way to another room with Major Bryan and two other people I was introduced to as Major Russ and Colonel Morris. Price shook the Colonel’s hand.
“Good to see you again, you’ve got old.” He says, Price really does know everyone.
“You too captain.” The colonel replies smiling. He looks past Price to me. “And who is this?”
“This is my lieutenant, Simon Riley.” I put my hand out to shake his.
“Ah yes, I’ve heard about you.” He says looking at me like he’s expecting something.
“Only good things I hope.” Price says sitting in a chair. I sit down next to him while Bryan turns on a projector. The wall lights up with pictures of satellite images, looks like some kind of compound.
“We’ll get started then,” Russ walks over to the laptop.
“These are images from a compound in Urzikstan we believe to be the main base Noah and his team are working from.” He switches to another image. “This was two days ago..” Price leans forward looking a figures highlighted in white. “This was yesterday..” Another image of what looks like the same too people standing armed outside the compound.
“We believe that is Noah and Makarov. These images were sent to us by the ULF today..” Photos of people moving in and out of the compound with boxes flash up on the screen. One of them is Makarov, I sigh, so we know where he is.
“The ULF sent you these. Have you been in contact with them?” Price asks.
“We were hoping you could help with that the ULF are… sceptical to work with us, you know Farah maybe you can convince them.” Colonel Morris asked. Price nodded.
“So we know where Makarov is and wherever he is Noah is?” Price asked.
“Actually we don’t know where they are anymore.” Major Russ said. “They were emptying the compound we were able to track them west then we lost them.”
“So he’s managed to slip the net within 24 hours?” Price asked.
“You think you’re mad I have to decide whether or not to pull a commando unit back here for this or not.” Morris said. Price sighed.
“MI5 has still given the go ahead?” Bryan asked.
“They’re still under the impression that we know where he is.” Morris replied. This was not looking good.
“Who else know’s they’ve left the compound?” Price asked. Everyone looks at each other, no one is saying anything.
“We have to assume the Americans know, we don’t know if there are moles within the ULF, it’s best to assume we have another 12 hours before it’s fair game.” Morris said. Price looked back at me, I could tell he was annoyed. We’ve lost him again and when we were so close.
“Even if we could get a commando unit back it would be at least another 24 hours before we could move.” Morris explained standing up Price sighed.
“It would be fruitless anyway, if they Americans know about this they could already be trying to shut it down. They’ve been trying to weasel their way into this mission for months. If the CIA get one sniff of this they’re going to be here.”
“Have we heard anything from them yet?” Price asked. The colonel shook his head.
“Which commando unit is the closest?” Morris asked looking at Bryan.
“45 are in India, 42 and 43 are in Australia.” Bryan says.
“So if we want them back we need to call them now.” Morris said. Price stood up.
“Let me see what I can do, I would assume Farah is keeping tabs on them, she might be able to point us in the right direction. What are the chances we can find them in the next 24 hours?” Price asks. They all look at each other sombrely.
“Let’s just hope we find them before MI5 cancels the order.” Price said heading for the door. I get up following him. As soon as we’re out the door I hear him curse under his breath. He stops at the end of the corridor.
“Go get some rest, I’ve got calls to make.” He says sounding defeated.
“Sure you don’t need help?” He sighs.
“I’m good LT I’ll come find you when I’m done.” I walked back down to the dorms I guess I could use a nap. I felt annoyed we’ve lost him again. Now we have to scramble to try and find him. Price would know what to do, he always did. I walked past the classroom Rosaly was teaching in, she was leaned up against the desk with her hands folded. Maybe I should go in and join her. I pushed the thought away. A nice nap would be good before Price comes back with more bad news.
I went to the dorms as soon as I got in the room a wave of exhaustion washed over me. I kicked my boots off pulling my mask and jacket off and laid on the top of the bed. I looked up at the ceiling wondering what was going to happen next. If MI5 found out we had lost Noah and Makarov the mission would be cancelled. I closed my eyes hoping Price would be able to come up with a solution. He always does. I must of fallen asleep cos I woke the the room door being opened. Price stepped round the corner. He looked tired as I stood up pulling my boots on.
“Any news?” I asked.
“Farah is tracking him west, said if anything we will know if he crosses the border at any point.” He sighed. I reached over and pulled my mask on standing up.
“What about Laswell.” I asked.
“If she know’s anything she’s not saying.” He shakes his head.
“Come on I’ll catch you up.” Price said heading out the room. He told me about his conversation with Farah. She’s been busy sounds like she’s got her hands full. The Americans have been nice enough but she’s still sceptical about them, understandably. Now she’s trying to keep track of Makarov and Noah. We ended up in the canteen but I wasn’t hungry, Price was still talking and ended up filling my try up too. I let him complain about how we should have been out sooner, then he turns to the training this morning and how bad it was. I nod as he leads us to a table I sit down as he picks at his food. I don’t even see Rosaly come up to us until she puts her tray down.
“I don’t think I can do 3 more days of this Price.” She says shaking a salt packet. I look at her she looks tired her cheeks red from being in a hot classroom all day.
“It’s all downhill from today.” He replies sipping his tea. That was true if these marines are passing out next week God knows what the lower ranks were going to be like.
“Where is Gaz anyway why foes he get to not be here?” She asks shoveling food in her mouth.
“He’s doing training he’ll be here tomorrow.” Price said. She looked at me.
“LT?” She says I can hear the frustration in her voice. I smile.
“Could be worse could be training the navy.” She pulls a face at me throwing the packet of salt at me letting out a fake laugh.
“Can I help you?” Price said. I turned to see a recruit stood behind me.
“Captain Price sir. Major Bryan asks to see you in the ops room, Captain I will take you there.” He gives an awkward salute, he’s shitting himself. I look back at Rosaly smiling at him as she eats her salad.
“It’s okay I know the way.” Price says as he gets up. I sit back in my chair folding my arms. I watch him leave with the recruit following behind him.
“10 says we get to leave early.” Rosaly says with that cheeky grin on her face.
“15 says we get a radio in the next 20 minutes.” I respond.
“It’s a good job I don’t have my radio then.” She smiles continuing to eat.
“Excuse me?” A voice at the end of the table says. I watch her roll her eyes as she turns to look.
“Yes?” She says sounding slightly annoyed to be interrupted.
“Is it true you can hold your breath longer then the admiral of the fleet?” I chuckled, this is how all the rumours get started about her.
“I don’t know I’ll ask him next time I see him.” She was smiling. I saw another group come over.
“Can we sit?” they ask.
“Sure,” she said shrugging. I look at her as they sit down. I would much rather be able to spend a little time with her alone even if it was in the mess hall.
“20 says they ask about the mask.” She says quiet enough so only I can hear it.
“25 they make fun of you for being a navy brat.” That wipes the smile off her face. I turn to look at them looking back at us.
“What’s with the mask?” One asks. I sigh reaching into my pocket.
“He was actually born with it, his first words were boo.” I roll my eyes handing her the money.
“Double or nothing we leave tonight.” She says raising an eyebrow and I take it back.
“Whats marine training like then?” She asks, they chuckle.
“You’ve seen the obstacle course down there.” They laugh.
“That thing I could do that in my sleep.” She replies. I love that determination she has in her eyes. She has such a fire in her belly when it comes to things like this. I can’t help but smile. Gaz was right she would have made a great marine.
“That first pull up is at least 6 foot.” Someone scoffed.
“So? I’ve dragged bodies over walls higher then that.” I frowned at her. I don’t think that’s entirely true.
“100 says you can’t complete it.” Some one from the end said. I looked at her, this was a bad idea. I looked at her, her eyes were serious now. This was a challenge to her.
“What’s the record?” She asked. She looked at me for a second, I looked down at her hoping she would get the idea without me having to stop her. Instead she just smiled.
“200 and I can do it in 15:12.” She says. Some of them scoff some laugh. Now this really was a challenge for her. There was that spark in her eyes the determination in her voice she stood up.
“You’re still recovering from a gunshot Williams.” I say getting up too.
“I know.” She replied throwing her tray in the trash. “That’s why I said 15:12.” I rushed out after her hearing people follow after us. She was quick practically skipping down the hill. She stops and I catch up with her.
“This is bad idea.” I say taking her sidearm.
“You going to stop me?” She asks. I see the fire in her eyes, hell I can hear it in her voice she want’s to do this for herself. She never imagined she would be here now she is. I smile I know she can do this, but she needs to prove it to herself.
“Be careful.” I say I watch as she goes to the starting line. I look at the group of marines who have come to watch. All of a sudden there was this pit in my stomach.
“You better be timing, I want that money!” She calls over. I watch her take a breath in setting herself up for a run, she presses the button on her watch and runs to the first wall. She pulls herself over landing on her feet, good start at least. She throws her body on the floor crawling through the tunnel portion. I hold my breath until she is completely out of the tunnel. Next is the rope climb, a fall from that height could land her in serious trouble. She pauses wiping her hands on her legs before she jumps on the rope. I hold my breath again watching her pull herself up.
I move a step closer as she is almost at the top. I see her smile when she has realised she’s made it. She slides back down the rope and runs over to the next part. She climbs the steps to the rope pull over water. I see he look over at me. She’s beaming, she’s enjoying this. It makes me relax a little as she grabs onto the rope pulling herself across. This is the slowest part maybe she’s tired or maybe she just really does not want to fall into the water. She made it to the end swinging her body down. She definitely was not trying to be graceful now. She kept going to the last wall pull. She ran up to it pulling herself up and throwing her body over. This time it was not a good landing.
I rushed over to her as she was bracing her hands on her legs sucking in air. I could see her hair stuck to her forehead. I wanted to brush it away, instead I handed her her gun back.
“15:12” She panted still smiling. When she took a step forward I could see how unsteady she was. Her hand instantly went to her side where the wound is. I look at her with concern in my eyes as she looks at my face, her smile fades a little and I grip her arm trying to support her. She moves out my grip though. I can see her trying to hide the pain as she winces with each step. I need to get her inside.
“You guys owe me 400!” She calls over to the marines still watching. I guide her back inside she walks straight up to the dorms without complaining, or saying anything. As soon as I push the door open and she sees the bed she flops down sighing.
“Let me see.” I say untucking her shirt and pulling it up. I hear Price come in.
“15:30. Nice job gave those marines a real kick up the ass.”
“15:12!” She protests, I move her on her side so I can see the back.
“Yeah, and I’m father Christmas.” Price says. I hear him flop on his bed. His meeting must have been worse.
“She good?” He asks.
“She’s good.” I say pulling her shirt back down and standing to look at Price, his arm over his eyes.
“What was the meeting about?” I ask.
“Paperwork, admin bullshit.” He says. He sits up. “I’m going to start sending you as my proxy soon LT.” I hear Rosaly giggle and I shake my head.
“Hum I’m sure Gaz would love the experience instead.” I crossed my arms looking at him he seemed tired.
“Gaz will be here tomorrow.” Price said. I took my jacket off throwing it on the end of my bed. I looked at Rosaly typing on her phone smiling. I go round to my bed to change my shirt it was wet from the rain outside and I didn’t feel like taking a shower yet. I looked out the window the sun was starting to set but I could see a group of marines hanging around the rope climb. I guess she really had given them a kick up the ass. I watched as they raced each other up the ropes. I hear Price come behind me.
“Let’s go have a chat.” He whispers. I nod following him looking over at Rosaly curled up in the bed eyes closes. I shook my head I have no idea how she can fall asleep so quickly. It must be a navy thing, ships are loud right?
“I bet it’s a medic thing.” Price says from ahead of me.
“What?”
“The way she can fall asleep so quickly, have you heard how loud hospitals are.” Price says. I get shivers, I was lost in my own thoughts. I meet with him at the end of the hall he turns into an empty room. I follow turning the light on closing the door behind me.
“Farah found them.” He says looking at me. I fold my arms.
“Let me guess you’re the only one who knows.” I sigh.
“It’s worse then that.” He says.
“What do you mean?” I say confused.
“There is a deal going to go down. I don’t know when or where but Noah and Makarov will be in the same place. The US wants to let it happen and catch them in the act. MI5 want to stop it before it gets that far…” Price trailed off.
“You want to get them now?” I say raising an eyebrow.
“We know where they are, we could do it…” He trails off again.
“What? Price spit it out.” I felt like I knew what he wanted to say I could see it on him.
“It would be a suicide mission.” I sighed.
“The other options?” I say.
“We wait see what the CIA or MI5 decide to do, keep tabs on them basically what we’ve been doing for the past 6 months.” I can tell he’s tired. I am too we’ve been chasing them for so long. It always feels like we’re so close and so far at the same time. If we missed them again it could be months before we find them. They were right under our nose in Syria, now we have credible intel and we can’t move on it. At least not without putting our lives and jobs in jeopardy.
“When is this deal?” I ask. Price shakes his head.
“Has to be in a few months, Noah will be in Ibiza soon for the summer season. We hope.” He relies.
“Just Noah?”
“Maybe, I don’t have much intel if any on his operations. Laswell is looking into it but its slow processes.”
“You think MI5 will retract the order?” I ask. He nods. Fuck, so we’re going to be waiting for the next few months.
“He’s getting away again.” I say. Price reaches into his coat pocket and passes me a cigarette.
“He’s not going to get far. If he crosses the border we will know, if he moves anywhere in Urzikstan we’ll know. Jesus if he fucking sneezes Farah will tell us.” I take the cigarette.
“So what's the plan?” I say.
“We’re going to play dumb see what happens, who moves first then I’ll decide. Best case CIA and MI5 will be too busy fighting we can just slip by and deal with this ourselves.”
“And worst case?”
“We lose them again.” I close my eyes taking it all in.
“Fucking bureaucracy.” I say taking the lighter from Price.
“Let’s just ride this out for now, give it a day at least before we start doing anything we might regret.” I nod and he pats my shoulder.
“We will get them, I promise.” I look in his eyes I know he means it. I sigh as he walks out the room. I look at the cigarette in my hand. I could really use this now, ‘son of a bitch Price you know me too well.’ I laughed at the thought making my way outside to smoke it. It was cold now especially since I left my jacket inside. I tried not to think about the fact that we were basically going to be doing nothing but twiddling our thumbs for another month maybe. I finished the cigarette, I really did feel better, calmer at least.
I went back up to the room. Price was not there but Rosaly was, she had changed back into my shirt and her hair was wet she must have gone for a shower. I wanted to go over and kiss her but I was scared I would wake her. Instead I went round to my bed pulling my clothes off and getting under the covers. I close my eyes and try to relax.
Price wakes me in the morning and we head to breakfast. I try to ask him if there have been any updates but he seems distracted. The morning runs pretty much like yesterday the shots are horrid with added attitude. Price screams at them a bit then has them trying again. I don’t know why I was so distracted today. I hadn’t seen Rosaly yet she went to the gym before we woke up and when Price took the recruits up to her when I went to get lunch. She was going to be meeting Gaz at the station when she was done. Price came and found me in the mess hall. I could tell something had changed with the way he sat down. He put a piece of paper down I picked it up reading it.
“So they cancelled the mission.” I say reading the order from MI5. He sighs.
“Look at the reason.” He said. I read the line. ‘Operation to be continued by United Kingdom’s allies.’ I scoffed.
“CIA? Did Laswell know?” I ask.
“No idea you can ask her she’ll be here in a few hours.” He sounded mad. I looked up at him handing the paper back.
“Where we going?” I asked.
“Urzikstan, the compound they were moving supplies from.” I nodded.
“We’re going to raid it for intel.” He said.
“Farah helping us?” I ask raising my eyebrow. He shakes his head.
“She’s busy out west, besides we need someone we can trust to keep an eye on Noah and Makarov.” He explained I nodded.
“Who’s the general we’re answering to this time?” Price scoffed.
“Anderson. Before you ask I have no idea I just saw his name on the new order we got.”
“What time does she get here?” I asked leaning back in the chair as Price folded the letter up.
“3 hours.” He said checking his watch. Turns out we didn’t need to wait that long only about 40 minutes had past when Price got a message she had picked up a chopper from Heathrow. Price seemed to have calmed down a bit by this point and we headed back up to the dorms.
“Full kit now!” He barked as he pushed the door in going over to his bed. Okay maybe not quiet so calm anymore. I nodded at Gaz as I went over throwing my vest on and packing the rest of the stuff in my bad.
“What’s going on?” I heard Rosaly ask, I looked over at her.
“Laswell is coming to pick us up we’re leaving.” Price explained throwing his bag over his back.
“Price want to explain?” She asked still sounding shocked as she fastened her vest.
“Noah is in Urzikstan we think Macrov is there too if we move fast we might be able to catch them.” He said with a sigh. That was the half truth I guess. She looked at me and I stepped to follow Price out the room. She grabbed my arm.
“What happened to waiting?” She whispered. I didn’t have time to explain everything that had been happening over the past 48 hours.
“Price know’s what he’s doing.” It true he does. She nodded and I left the room. We waited by the helicopter landing pad. It was not long before a chopper showed up and Laswell stepped out shaking Price’s hand.
“Nice to see you again captain, there is a plane waiting for us at Heathrow!” She shouted over the blades as we all climbed in. I was in last and closed the door.
“Sergeant Williams this is Laswell.” Price said I saw Rosaly shake her hand.
“Nice to meet you.” She replied adjusting her headset.
“I read your file, impressive work.” Laswell said.
“Thank you.” Rosaly replied smiling.
“What’s the plan in Urzikstan?” Gaz asked, he was sat opposite me.
“We found what we believe to be their former main base.” She handed a tablet to Price, we looked over to see the same pictures the ULF had sent to MI5. Price acted supprised. “Farah sent them, we think they’re moving more west but this place isn’t empty yet, they’ve been moving munitions but not computers or files. Right now its running on a skeleton crew, it would be easy to infiltrate and secure information.” She finished.
“What about the theory they’re using the Balearic Islands as cover?” Rosaly asked.
“We’re almost certain they are, we know Noah will be there within the next few weeks due to the summer season starting, this raid will give us invaluable information and proof of their operations down there.” Laswell explained. So the Americans want proof, catching them in the act is not enough.
“What about Makarov?” I asked before I could stop myself. There was a moment of Silence as she looked at Price.
“If information on his whereabouts is going to be anywhere it will be in that compound, we know he has been involved with Joshua in the past it is most likely Joshua is hiding him until things die down.” Laswell said. Does she not know about the satellite images? I look at Price as he hands the tablet back to her. I watch as he sits back in the seat. We make it to the airport in no time and get on a cargo plane going to Sakhra.
I turn my brain off and try and get some rest. I listen to Gaz and Rosaly talk as Gaz tells her all about spending time with his family in London. She listens as he explains Farah and the ULF to her. She says it’s her first time to Urzikstan, at least she will get to see a new place. Eventually they both fall asleep. I let the plane rock me to sleep too.
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JACOB BUTCHER ( CORTEON MOORE ) is a TWENTY-EIGHT year-old TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHER in NEW DELHI, INDIA. They were brought under Richard’s care when they were only TWENTY-EIGHT years old. They are known as THE CHARMER because they are EASY-GOING but also AVOIDANT.
BASIC INFORMATION
Full Name: Jacob Anthony Butcher
Nickname(s): Mostly just goes by 'Butcher' but JB and J are not uncommon
Date of Birth: May 15th 1976
Age: 28
Occupation: Travel Photographer (Travel enthusiast in general and extreme sports participator/admirer)
Current Residence: He was in Australia before deciding to make a stop at New Delhi on his way back to Woodrow, however he staid in India longer than he originally planned due to fun and work colliding a little too well.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Hair: Curly, frizzy, untrimmed atm
Eyes: Light brown
Height: 5'9
Notable Features: Vitiligo over his hands, and barely noticeable by his right eye and bottom right of his chin. Scars all over his body acquired through sports and travel, a dashing smile of course...
PERSONALITY & BEHAVIOR:
Strengths: Determined when intrigued, loyal to a fault, charismatic
Weaknesses: Lonely, avoidant and lets his own stubbornness get in the way of things
Quirks: Rubs the back of his neck when nervous, left eyebrow raises and does a little twitch whenever he's lying (only a few of the wards are actually aware of this -- he, himself, is not)
Vices: Will try anything that seems 'exciting' to him, no matter how dangerous. Smokes cigarettes and occasionally does drugs. Rarely drinks.
INTEREST & HOBBIES:
Interests: Jacob has had a plethora of interests since childhood. From reading and acting out fantasy novels, to creating his own stories. From riding a bike, to quickly becoming interested in driving a helicopter. Driving, diving, surfing, parachuting, climbing, name a sport or an activity and he has likely tried it. His interests are heavy on the 'outdoors' and learning new things or polishing old skills.
Hobbies: Although he's a very physically active person, and those would certainly include most of his hobbies. Jacob finds that his 'relaxing' time is where his genuine hobbies truly flourish. He writes fantasy a lot, often inspired by his real experiences, and he is a photographer professionally, always pushing himself further to capture beautiful things on camera. He is hoping to collaborate with National Geographic in the future, but he has never told Richard about it out of fear that the old man would try and pull more strings for him. Besides those two hobbies, he also enjoys cooking and pottery a considerable amount.
Special Skills/Talents: He's actually got a lot of these due to his constant participation in weird and extreme sports. Perhaps the biggest skill/talent is staying alive.
BECOMING A WARD
Jacob has a very difficult time remembering much of his childhood. There are only few, very few vivid memories he held of his mother. Of a yellow closet with drawings stuck on it. And fire, smell of fire late at night as the screams echoed in the distance. Whenever he would ask Richard about his past, about his parents, about circumstances which led him to Woodrow -- he was met with a dismissive response. "They couldn't take care of you boy, you're better off here." and that was as far as he'd ever get.
Over the years, he had tried to pry more information out of the old man, but he was never successful. Even when he tried to take matters into his own hands, and seek answers outside of Richards little safety bubble -- he came up with nothing. There was no records of a 'Jacob Anthony Butcher' to be found. So he assumed his name had been changed. His family was either incapable or unwilling to take care of him, and he was to take life for what it was and live on. Move on. And let the questions of his childhood vanish.
LIFE AS A WARD
Jacob has always had a knack for people, a longing for life, for opportunities, for adventure. As a child, he would spend hours lost in fantasy worlds, imagining himself riding dragons - or slaying them. Roping other wards into playing soldiers or vampires or whatever his latest obsession would have been. He would go as far as to make his own stories, makeshift his own toys, skate and run and swim around the Woodrow grounds without a care in the world. It is his genuine nature to be easy-going about things in life, and that always made people drawn to him. Everybody likes good company, and Jacob just so happens to like everybody. There was never much others could do to put him off, because above all, Jacob truly believed, as he continues to believe, that people had their reasons. For the good things, the bad things, and everything in-between. And nothing, not a damn thing was ever personal. So he took no offence, and he adapted, he forgave, he did his best to be there for others. His loyalty was always easily acquired, but not quite as easily lost.
All that said, Jacob still struggled growing up. Mostly with poor focus and hyperactivity, and he often felt 'dumb' when participating in lectures with other wards, or having to take extra classes even after school to catch up with them. It did take a toll on his confidence at a certain point in life, but he learnt to hide it behind a nice smile and a pretence of 'not caring' which worked out for him in the end. As a young ward he found most joy in simply hanging out with his peers, and even more in getting Mrs. Tristans forehead vein to pump rather visibly.
As Jacob grew older, he didn't grow more serious. But he developed a dose of charm inspired by the confidence he gained through surrounding himself with others. He knew that people gravitated towards him, and he found comfort in always having company, in meeting new people, trying out new things. So when the time came to pursue further education, he instead devised a plan to travel. To see the world. To truly live. It may have taken Richard some (a lot of) convincing, but eventually he agreed to let the boy go. Ever since, he has hardly stopped. Always one foot out the door. Always looking for the next rush of adrenaline, next adventure.
Although his charm gets him through a lot in life, and allows him to form deeper attachments, he is not the one to settle down. To dream of a house with a picket fence, a family, a single partner for the rest of his life. His spirit runs wild, and he's always in his happiest when he's on the go. Perhaps, a part of him wonders at times if he's truly in a state of constant movement due his deep love for it, or because he is perhaps running. One thing is certain, he is incapable of staying alone, of standing still, only what would he be trying to outrun? At the end of the day, the only thing he actually had, was himself.
AESTHETIC
Butcher is mostly dressed casual and somehow always covered in dirt. This is why he rarely invests in any expensive or formal clothes, they are certain to get ruined. Comfort is the key, whereas aesthetics are more of an after-thought. Still, he is often seen wearing a silver necklace, whose story of acquirement always changes when asked about. And he also tends to wear a braided bracelet one of his fellow wards had gifted him shortly after his arrival at Woodrow. It's the sentiment, of course, more than genuine liking for the bracelet itself.
He owns two black suits, one for weddings and the other for funerals. And a few neat black shirts and tops to match a pair of his 'clean' jeans whenever he needs to dress up. Butcher's also particularly fond of his leather jacket which went through hell and back with him and somehow still holds up pretty well.
EDUCATION
Jacob chose to attend a public school after his primary education, but Richard wouldn't allow him to go private as he needed more effort and guidance with education then other kids due to his hyperactivity and lack of focus. This was also the first and the only time Jacob and Richard had a real argument. Following this, Butcher spent the next couple of weeks moping around the house and giving an unusual dose of attitude to anyone he came to contact with, but then got over it when Mrs. Tristan properly explained why it was all for the best in the end and how he will soon be done with school and off to pursue his dreams.
Of course, she was right, and his focus was soon somewhere else. But once that the school truly ended, and it was time to head off to University, he used his lack of choice on the matter to further convince Richard to let him travel instead of continuing further education. Ever the academic, it was tough to convince Richard that this was the right path for him, so they agreed on somewhat of a 'gap year' at first, which eventually became full-time travelling and working on the go.
EXTRACURRICULARS
Jacob participated in any extracurricular he could get his hands on. Even the ones he wasn't particularly interested in. He just enjoyed spending time with other wards, so if they had an interest of their own and wanted someone to tag along -- he would happily do it.
THEIR LIFE NOW
He has been travelling, mostly. The longest he ever staid in one place was a year before moving on to his next adventure. Most recently, he had climbed Mt Everest, his lifelong dream, and after that he moved on to a semi-professional surfing competitions in Australia where he did quite well. He considered staying in Australia for a while, but decided to head back to Woodrow instead as it has been months since he last visited. On the way though, he stopped in India where the Krishna Janmashtami festival was just around the corner and decided to stay for a while as well. He was still in New Delhi when he heard of Richard's passing.
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