Ghost

Shit was kinda bleak for a while for the Task Force.

Makarov was dead, at the very least. Rotting in hell where he belonged. The group could finally catch their breath and rest those achey feet, kick back and relax for once. ’Get that R and R in,’ as Price would say while trying to puff out cigar smoke only to fail and choke it down with an uneasy cough. They did do that, a lot of it. But they also stayed at Soap’s bedside for months on end as he recovered from a bullet to the skull at the same time.

It wasn’t the scariest moment of Simon’s life. But he be damned if it wasn’t close to it. Hearing the noise of gunshots and seeing the blood for the first time. Not some innocents blood, his own friend’s blood. His brother in arms, that damned Scot, mixing with Makarov’s in some unholy combination while the two bled out on that chopper floor. Watching one of his own struggle to even stay alive on oxygen for a month straight after that fateful flight, barely scraping away with most bodily functions still entant… It would break a man. But Simon Riley was already broken, no? Just another scar to add on his already fucked up frame, another mental wound that would never coagulate.

But, Soap was okay. Had to relearn walking and eating, nerves got messed up a bit in places, and had a scar on the side of his head. Shit, the scar was bad. When the man finally shaved his head to redo his mohawk and the group finally saw how badly the skin twisted in on itself, contorting to where that silver bullet went in and out sharp of his head? Nasty thing. But Johnny would just make a joke about it and move on. Probably say something about ’Oh, if mines bad, the fuck’s Ghosts?’ Which was fair, the LT’s body was a bit banged up from life.

Everything ended up working out, though. Soap was okay, and so was Gaz plus Price.

But were they okay okay? Not… really. Mental wounds took longer to heal than physical ones. Ghost knew that the best. For the group, having someone they relied on so heavily gone for nearly a year and a half from duty was strange. The lingering thought of Johnny not even being able to live by himself or do basic functions again hanging in the air almost was suffocating. So were they good? Yeah, no. Not one bit. Those first few weeks after were tense, especially with the replacement Price had funneled in to fill for Soap while the man was on medical leave— isobel.

isobel. isobel, isobel, isobel. They were alright. Were they Johnny? No. But they were somethin’ else. The whole package, really— quick thinker, smart in missions, strong and commanding when needed. Not their fault the terms of their deployment came so soon after such a major misstep. The atmosphere when isobel joined for the first time was so tense, the wounds still so fresh, Simon couldn’t even look at the newcomer and not think of Johnny. Fuck, it had only been a week after that point, and everything had gotten on his last nerve. So what? Simon may have absolutely berated the shit out of the rookie after they fucked up on a mission one time, but it really wasn’t his fault. That’s just when you angered a man like him, like the absolute hunk of a beast Ghost was. So what if isobel now avoided him like the plague because he screamed them to tears? Shit was stressful.

But it got a bit better after a while, with Soap’s slow recovery and eventual release from the hospital.

As soon as Laswell cleared Soap for deployment back into 141, Price had a plan in formation. Old man always did. With no clear threats in the way since Makarov was already rotted away into bones at that point— and thank fuck, being the one to put a bullet in his skull was the most gratifying thing in the world— the Captain wanted to have some ’Task Force bonding time’. Especially after Soap had just come back, the whole unit needed a invervention. Gaz was being jittery as hell, Price getting on everyone’s last nerve, and isobel just being isobel up until Soap got discharged from the hospital. So Simon got why Price wanted this. But really? Cramped and smushed between bags of shit that wasn’t his just because someone on the team loved to overpack for no goddamn reason (Soap, although the man would definitely deny it)? Pretending to like each other’s presence for far too long? Simon did like his brothers, don’t get him wrong. Just for weeks on end it was a lot. Especially with how… Ghost acted. But it was Price suggesting this, and the Captain knew the team like the back of his own hand. So when he set a date and a location for what they’d be doing, everyone— begrudgingly— agreed.

A trip around Europe, Price had chosen. Maybe a few weeks at most, renting out a car and just driving around places until they got bored, ran out of liquor, or spent all their savings. Nobody was a real lightweight, though, so Ghost was praying on that second option. Wasn’t a bad idea in concept, sounded fun. Price was hopeful for the future, especially with more hands under the Task Force from isobel, so getting to hang out after such a stressful time in all their lives was nice. And Ghost just got dragged along.

“I call shotgun!” Soap’s voice called out, hopping into the front seat before anyone could say otherwise. Snapped Ghost right out of his thoughts, the man just sitting there in the back. Right, where were they even? Just got off the plane from Britain and into some rental car outside the airport. Somewhere… uh… somewhere. They were somewhere. Fine, fuck, Ghost didn’t know all the details but did that really matter? Price was driving anyways, messing away with the GPS while trying to type in some foreign name of a city far away.

Out the corner of his eye, he could see Gaz roll his eyes and throw the rest of their luggage onto his row in the middle, stacking it high so there was only one seat right behind Price just for him. “You only wanna get that because we feel bad, love.”

Johnny only rolled his eyes and chuckled hoarsely. Even if Ghost didn’t admit it, he missed those moments of solidarity between the four.

Or five, because he completely forgot that isobel existed until he heard the car door slam shut and the rookie slip into the seat next to him.