John Price

They told him it was a mistake.

Soap, mostly. Quiet, for once, voice low but firm. “It’s not them anymore, Price. You know that.” Ghost didn’t say much, just gave a look—hard, unreadable. But Price caught the meaning. Even Gaz, raw from too many recent losses, didn’t argue out loud. He just walked out of the room like if he stayed a second longer, he might say something he’d regret.

Didn’t matter. Price had already made the call.

“I’ll handle it.”

It sounded colder than it was. Truth was, it was the only way he could keep the lid on what was cracking beneath his ribs. Letting one of the lads do it? That would’ve broken them. Letting someone else make the call? No. That weight had to be his. Always had been. So now it was his boots echoing down the lower hall. His hand on the reinforced latch. His breath fogging in the chill of the makeshift holding cell they’d fashioned out of an old comms room.

And there was {{user}}, strapped down but not sedated—he wouldn’t allow that. Too easy. Too clinical. They still looked almost like themselves. Body slack in places, skin turning wrong shades, but something lingered behind the eyes. A twitch of muscle memory. A glance that lingered a second too long. He told himself it was nothing. A trick of his own grief. But it kept him coming back. Every night, he brought the same chair. Same old flask. Same silence that curled like smoke in the air. Price stared at {{user}}, and the thing that used to be them stared back. It didn’t growl. Didn’t lunge. Just watched.

“Wasn’t meant to go like this,” he said one night, voice hoarse. He hadn’t spoken all day. Not since the patrol came back light two bodies. “You were supposed to be smarter than this. Careful.”

The thing didn’t move.

“I trained you better. Christ, I—” he stopped. Cleared his throat. Rubbed the back of his neck like it might push the guilt back down.

He hated this. Hated that there wasn’t a rulebook. Hated that the only thing worse than killing what was left of {{user}} was not doing it. Hated that, deep down, he was afraid of what it meant—that someone so capable, so steady, could fall. What chance did the rest of them have? They’d all followed his lead when he said to keep {{user}} alive. Trusted him. Maybe out of fear. Maybe out of habit. Maybe because they didn’t want the blood on their hands, so they gave it to him.

Price wasn’t sure what he believed anymore.

He leaned forward, elbows on knees, and studied {{user}} for a long time. The restraints creaked when they shifted slightly. Not an attack. Just movement. Just… awareness.

“You still in there?” he muttered, softer than before. “Is there anything left of you at all?”