Rachel climbed out a beat later, the sun hitting her face as she adjusted the strap of the crossbody bag slung over her shoulder. Her hair was pulled back. She wore clean jeans, boots, and one of Ghost's plain black hoodies. Her face showed the exhaustion of the last few days, but her shoulders were squared.
Bear gave her a short nod. "Good to see you upright, Parker."
Rachel offered a faint smile. "Good to be here."
Ghost scanned the lot. "They ready for us?"
Torch shrugged. "Far as I know, the Commander's inside. Wants answers."
"Then let's give him some," Ghost said.
The team moved together across the concrete toward the heavy double doors of Naval HQ. Their boots hit pavement in uneven rhythm, the sound echoing off the building's exterior.
Inside, the building was cool, air conditioning cranked high enough to raise goosebumps on Rachel’s arms. The air smelledlike industrial cleaner and old coffee. They passed security without pause, badges scanned, gates buzzing open, then down a long corridor lined with sealed offices and muted monitors mounted on the walls showing news feeds with no sound.
At the end of the hall, the door to the Command Briefing Room stood open.
They filed in. The space was stripped-down military: metal chairs, a long table scarred with use, and a pair of flags flanking the far wall. The fluorescent lights overhead hummed faintly. Commander Anders stood waiting, a tablet in one hand, his face betraying nothing.
Ghost entered first, Rachel at his side. The rest of the team followed, Torch, Predator, Reaper, Echo, Brick, Rogue, Frost, and Bear, their collective presence filling the room quickly.
Commander Anders didn't ask them to sit. He stood at the head of the table, uniform crisp despite the early hour. The man carried himself with natural authority.
"I've read the report," Anders said, stepping around the edge of the table. "Seen the raw footage. The intel packet that came through the encrypted channel. And Ms. Parker's public exposé." His eyes flicked briefly to her. "I've spent the last six hours fielding calls from Capitol Hill."
Rachel met his gaze directly. Didn't flinch.
"You realize what you've done," Anders said.
"I do," she answered.
"You've made enemies."
"So did Langley and Hale," she replied.
Anders's jaw twitched, but he said nothing. He looked to Ghost. "Before I give you what I know, I want to hear it from you. All of it. Start to finish."
Ghost nodded once. "Langley orchestrated Rachel's abduction. He was running off-books blacksite logistics for Colonel Hale, funneling weapons, laundering cash through ghost units buried in Joint Task Force Blackbird. Rachel got close to their operation. Too close. Her story was about to drop, and they needed to shut her up."
He didn't raise his voice. Didn't look at notes.
"Langley and Hale's people hit her apartment," Ghost continued. "She hid. We got to her before they did, moved her to my place for protection." He paused. "But they found her anyway. Took her straight from my house."
Commander Anders's face hardened, but he didn't interrupt.
"We reviewed surveillance," Ghost said. "Rachel had footage from an arms deal—Blackbird personnel, off-grid transactions. Carvershowed up in that video. We didn't know if he was part of it. We grabbed him."
Torch shifted beside him, arms crossed.
"Turns out, he wasn't compromised," Ghost said. "He was embedded. Deep. Working against them from the inside."
"He's the one who found out where they took her," Reaper added. "He got us in."
Ghost nodded. "We breached the site. Took out Langley's men. Brought Rachel home."
Anders glanced toward Rachel, then back to Ghost.
"And Langley?"
