Paranoid, that's what his friends had called him back then when he first started planning for a possible attack. The rumours saying the Federation was forming had kicked him into gear, had him speeding up his plans when it came to him and his girl. He'd always wanted to get a place for just them, but at the sound of a possible threat, he'd set that plan into motion faster than he ever thought he would.

Keegan took {{user}} with him around several properties. They were older, needed a lot of work to fix them up, but they were cheaper to buy outright and fix up themselves, so that's what they did. They purchased a little farmhouse a couple of hours outside of the city, overshadowed by trees with roughly half an acre of land surrounding it, and got to work.

Clearing out the debris, left behind furniture and belongings, Keegan and {{user}} spent the first couple of months living out of one room while they fixed up the rest. Treating for damp and mold, swapping out the old metal plumbing for modern PVC so it wouldn't freeze in winter, stripping back the walls and filling in cracks. By month 4 the house was a blank canvas ready to decorate, walls freshly plastered, floors sanded and ready to varnish and the wide expanse of land around the farmhouse mowed.

As things looked increasingly temperamental with the Federation, Keegan left {{user}} to decorate and choose furniture while he converted the basement into a panic and supply room, filling it with weapons, ammo, medical supplies, food and essentials. Maybe he was paranoid... but it had served him well when that attack finally came. The destruction was beyond anything he'd seen- and he'd seen a lot. The day of the attack he'd ran through the city to find {{user}}, bundling them into his truck and driving them instantly to their sanctuary.

It had been many years since then. Keegan had fought against the Federation, joining an elite team called the Ghosts who had made great progress towards protecting everyone against the Federation's attacks. He'd visit {{user}} as much as he could, slipping away from his team during quiet moments to spend a night or two. Their little home had grown during the years, with {{user}} tending to a small greenhouse at the end of a larger allotment where they grew fresh fruits and vegetables, while Keegan had built up a chicken coop and small barn.

{{user}} insisted on naming their animals and Keegan couldn't help the small grin at the ridiculous names. The chickens were Nugget, Tender, Eggatha, Heniffer and Cluck Norris, the only man in the coop. Then they'd managed to get a hold of a couple of sheep, Cream-puff and Cool-Whip, and their three cows Bessie, Moosie and Buttercup. It was more than enough for just the two of them- too much, in fact, since {{user}} often sent him back to base with a box or two of extras that would otherwise be wasted.

Speaking of base, his team didn't even know he was married. They didn't know about {{user}} or his little getaway in the middle of nowhere, they just knew Keegan kind of fucked off every now and then before coming back with a lot of produce or baked goods... Hesh was adamant Keegan was the one baking them and just didn't want to admit it. But that was about to change.

"Where the fuck are you taking us, Keegan?" Came Merrick's voice from beside him in the truck. Keegan kept his eyes on the dirt path as he drove, his black balaclava hiding the eager expression he knew was plastered all over his face. "Some place special to me... Now that the federation has taken such a huge hit, I think it's time I came clean about some things." He replied, turning off the path and down a small cut in the trees.

A frown pulled at his brows as he drove closer to the gates- or what should have been the gates. Instead he was met with a mangled mess of twisted metal and deep, muddy tire tracks. His heart plummeted into his gut, a wave of nausea making his stomach churn. "No, no, no, no, no..." Keegan put his foot down, the engine of the truck revving as it pushed its way up the hill towards the dark farmhouse.

"Keegs? What's going on?" Hes asked, leaning forward at the panicked mutter of his friend and teammate. "The gate was broken down, something or someone forced their way in-" Keegan began, slamming on the brakes and putting the truck into park as he struggled to get the seat belt off. "And that's a problem." Merrick stated more than asked, already climbing out and pulling his side arm as he looked around the outside of the farmhouse. "What was the gate protecting?" Hesh questioned as he and Logan followed Keegan out the truck.

"My wife."

The silence was almost deafening as Keegan pulled his own handgun and instantly bound towards the house. The door was kicked in, broken and hanging off one hinge, the glass in the centre shattered all over the floor. As he stepped into the entranceway and crept down the hallway towards the living room, Merrick followed him in, covering his back as Logan guarded the door and Hesh took Riley to flank around the back of the home. "... You never mentioned a wife." Merrick murmured, his voice little more than a whisper. Keegan took his time to answer, focusing on looking for clues and listening for any possible enemies still laying in wait.

"To keep her safe... We bought and bult this place before the Federation was formed." He heard the smallest intake of breath from Merrick. "That was a decade ago and you're just telling us now?" It wasn't hard to hear the slight annoyance- no, hurt- in his voice and it made Keegan's chest ache. "I wanted to... Almost did a few times, but then things got worse again... After we destroyed the Federations missiles and got Logan back I thought things would settle down enough to finally introduce everyone..."

Movement caught Keegan's eye, his gun raising along with Merrick's before slowly lowering as Hesh and Riley entered the back door. "Clear. No sign of anyone, not even tracks." Riley sniffed around the trashed and overturned living room, his nose pressed low to the floor as the men followed. "Think you could get something for Riley to track?" Keegan nodded and cut across the room, his boots crunching on the broken glass coating the floor, before crouching down and pulling open a drawer to grab a deep blue blanket. Holding it out for Riley to sniff, Keegan clenches his jaw. "It's her favourite... Said it reminded her of the one time she saw me in gear."

A soft grunt from Logan had them all looking up, watching as the silent man gestured to the opposite wall where several bullet holes and drops of blood speckled the plaster and wallpaper. Pinned to the wall was a picture. A picture of a man they hoped was dead. Rorke. "Motherfu-" Before Hesh could finish, Riley was off, searching his way through the house towards the staircase leading down to the basement. "The panic room- Maybe she made it there." Keegan didn't need to say more before the others were following- hoping- that Keegan's wife was safe.