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There have always been rumours on base. Gossiping is a good way to spend your time if you have nothing else to do.
Most of the gossip is just harmless rumours so the officers haven’t really given them second thoughts.
Ghost has always been a central theme for these rumours. Who wouldn’t be interested in stories and theories about the mysterious Sergeant who never takes off his mask, who never speaks more than two words at a time (except if he's shouting at someone). The moment he stepped foot on base people began to wonder about his mask, his past, his deathly cold demeanour.
“I heard he never sleeps” – “No, he sleeps with his eyes open!”
“Guys, that’s stupid”
“Well, have
you
seen him sleeping?”
“No, because I’m not a creep.”
“How long has it been since Ghost ate? I think he only drank tea for the last couple of days now”
“Why does he hide his face? Is he ugly?” – “I doubt it.”
Of course, these rumours are false, Ghost does eat and sleep ( albeit not much ), and he doesn’t wear the mask because he’s afraid people will think he’s ugly.
But Ghost is not the only target of gossip, there are plenty of other theories about the rest of the 141 going around the base, like how Price always wears his hat because he’s balding, or how Gaz is the gossip queen ( which might be true ). The most absurd rumour is that Soap is planning on shaving his mohawk. This one makes the rounds at the base at least twice a year, even though Soap will never part with his hair. Probably.
The most recent story is that Ghost and Soap hate each other. They had an argument two days prior and the gossip machine is running at full throttle.
“Did you hear what they were talking about?”
“No, but Ghost speaks back to the lieutenant quite often, it might be about that.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard about that too. Gary told me last week he thinks Soap dislikes Ghost because he’s trying to become a lieutenant as well.”
“Oooh, he might want to take over as Price’s confidant.”
This time Ghost doesn’t ignore the rumours. He assigns the two privates to cleaning duty since they like to ‘stir shit’.
The argument between Johnny and Simon which caused this situation wasn’t even that serious. They were discussing whether England or Scotland was better, things just got a bit out of hand.
Ghost talks with Soap about what he heard and they have a laugh about it, but Simon asks John if they should clear up the confusion.
“If those two idiots know you heard the rumour from them, they’ll keep their mouths shut” – Soap told Ghost – “but we can ask Gaz if this particular story got out already.”
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Gaz gets an unsettling text message from Soap.
> We need to talk.
He hasn’t done anything wrong, but he can’t shake the feeling he might have done something and then forgotten about it.
He walks over to Soap’s office. John and Simon were already waiting for him inside. Gaz sits down in front of his lieutenant and prepares for the worst.
“Can we ask you something, Gaz?”
“Uhh.. sure.”
“Have you heard any rumours about us? Do you think they are true?”
Gaz is confused enough about the questions that he blurts out an answer that he definitely shouldn’t have. At least not now.
“Yeah, you two got it bad for each other.”
Awkward silence ensues. Soap and Gaz stare at each other.
“You were not referring to this rumour, were you?” – Gaz asked.
“No.”
After a few seconds Garrick bolts out of the room, Ghost hot on his heel.
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Captain Price is silently filling out paperwork in his office when he hears commotion down the hallway. As the footsteps get louder he stands up and walks to the window to look between the blinds.
He watches as Garrick runs past his office towards the mess hall, then after a few moments Simon does the same while hollering after Gaz:
“ COME BACK HERE YOU TWAT! ”
Price takes a deep sigh.
“Lord, give me patience, because if you give me strength I will strangle these two.” – he mutters under his breath.