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When one is faced with endangerment the mind becomes more focused or distracted given their experience in life. For Ghost three things ran like a broken record through his mind as the lights of Las Almas dimmed behind the stolen battered truck: get Soap to safety, watch out for any enemy activity, and get to Alejandro’s safehouse as soon as he could. Ghost just prayed that the truck wasn't too heavily damaged so that it would give out half way to their destination, god knew only how far Grave’s shadows were spread out in Las Almas.
The same thought ran though Soap’s mind as adrenaline was still running high, his eyes scanning the dark horizon for any hostiles, he wanted to make sure Ghost was focused on the road as he had already crashed into more than a few abandoned vehicles on the road.
Quiet filled the air for some time until Soap could feel a notable decrease in the speed of the vehicle.
“Seems we’re in the clear now, but keep your guard up” Ghost spoke, Soap could somewhat make out what he said, the wind and rain blowing into the cabin did not combine well with Ghost’s low voice.
The hot day that blanketed the day had dispersed and Soap was starting to feel the oncoming chill from being out in the rain. The adrenaline that filled his veins was now dwindling, the injury on his arm was getting harder to ignore.
“Fuck” Soap cursed in a pained whisper as he grabbed his arm, old blood mixed with new blood in some gruesome cocktail stain. His body was starting to become too heavy and his sense of direction was starting to falter. Soap closed his eyes for a moment, but opened them as Ghost hit another bump on the road.
Ghost was sure Soap was trying not to make any pained sounds but the minute Soap started closing his eyes Ghost knew he had to keep the man awake until they made it to a safe location.
“Keep your eyes open, Johnny” Looking at Soap's face Ghost could see how absolutely drained the man was, both of energy and possibly blood.
“Stay awake a bit longer for me Johnny, we have to get that injury of yours taken care of”
“I’ll be fine L.t., just a flesh wound” Ghost rolled his eyes at Soap’s comment. As much as Ghost wanted to believe that Soap could make it to the safe house it wasn't a good idea to keep the bullet wound open for so long, and given that Soap had been crawling through the dirty sewers and streets there would for sure be an infection brewing that they couldn't afford right now.
“We’ll stop here” They were both now far enough from the main hub of Las Almas that Ghost felt safe enough to slow the vehicle down near to what looked like a house that was either in the process of being built or abandoned altogether.
“Cover me, I’m going to see if it’s safe” Ghost left the truck and slowly closed the door behind him, so far it seemed like there wasn't any sort of movement from where he could see. The house seemed to look like a family's passion project with flowers and other designs on the front side of the house. A few windows laced the house but it could still be seen that a few were still left to be installed, the vacant window sills covered by plastic to protect the inside from the elements. Ghost approached the door and was surprised to find it open. Holding his gun close he peered around the entryway and into the walk-in dining area that combined with the kitchen, it was small but cozy. Wood boards and other construction material was spewn about but still organized, definitely a home in the making, and a nearly completed one as there were a few furniture pieces covered in plastic and a few lamps now occupying the living room and bedrooms. As Ghost finished his run about the house interior there seemed to be no immediate sign of any Shadow activity, they were in the clear.
Ghost made his way out back to the truck as he saw Soap holding his gun with his one good arm.
“Seems the Shadows didn’t make it this far out, we’ll be good to stop here for the moment”
“That’s good” Soap relaxed and strolled closer to Ghost but nearly lost his footing as the ground outside the home was nothing more than uneven rocky pavement.
“Easy Johnny, lets go inside and treat that gunshot” Ghost grabbed Soap’s good arm and draped it over his shoulders. The sergeant definitely used Ghost’s assistance to his full advantage, fatigue now more notable as each step that Soap took felt like needles on his legs.
“Sit here” Ghost guided Soap to the plastic covered sofa in what was possibly planned to be the living room. Ghost went back to the door to close and lock it, the rain now nothing but a shower compared to the downpour they faced earlier.
Ghost walked back and fiddled with the lamp near the doorway, he was relieved as when he went to plug it into one of the outlets that there was electricity running through the house.
“Feel a lil’ bad about coming in uninvited” Soap jested as he inspected his wound.
“They can clean up after, right now we gotta focus on you, Johnny” Ghost sat next to Soap on the couch, making it almost seem smaller than it actually was. Lifting Soap’s shirt at the arm opening, Ghost's fear sadly came to fruition as the bullet hadn’t gone through fully, it was still lodged in Soap’s arm.
“How’s it look L.t.?”
“No exit hole, it's in there, we’re gonna have to get it out”
“Fuckin’ Graves” Soap almost growled and made a motion of some kind.
“I’ll treat your wound for you, but your shirt and equipment are gonna get in the way, I’ll help you take it off” Soap sighed as he knew Ghost was right. It felt like a risk taking off any armor with what they had just both gone through, but if Ghost was going to be able to work without any obstruction he would need to take off his heavy gear. That and add to the point that with Soap’s weakened state it felt like the vest was weighing him down to the point where he would tip over like some drunkard at a bar.
Ghost’s efficient hand carefully removed Soap’s vest without causing more pain than there should be for the man. Ghost started to do the same with his own, again another gamble that both he and Soap now didn’t have them on.
As Ghost placed the vest aside from the corner of his eye he could see that Soap was taking off his shirt on his own. He was about to object to Soap moving so much without assistance but his words seemed to be caught in his throat as he saw Soap’s bruised and cut skin.
Deep purples were spaced around Soap’s skin, less than what Ghost had possibly assumed but it still made Ghost feel perturbed in some way. The cuts themselves thankfully weren't as bad as he had thought.
“Should we look for medical supplies here?” Soap asked, snapping Ghost out of his minimal trance.
“No need, I got a med kit”
“When did you get that?”
“Snatched one off a stray Shadow. Sad to say it was probably their first real mission”
Soap was silent for a moment. “Did you kill ‘em?”
“Had to, Johnny. It was life and death mission, if I had faltered then you’d still be in Las Almas on your own”
Soap only sighed as he accepted Ghost’s words.
“You have any medical training, Ghost?” He asked as Ghost was taking out the contents of the med kit.
He paused, “I have some…my main goal is to get that bullet out of you, the rest I’ll figure out along the way”
“The same amount as I would assume you have driving experience”
Ghost looked up from the supplies at his hands to see Soap give a low laugh. As much as he wanted to give Soap a good punch on his injured arm he was just glad the man was still conscious enough to joke around.
“Good one. Funny enough, early on I joined the air service.”
Soap gave a real laugh this time as the thought of Ghost driving anything more than a car, let alone a military grade aircraft, was both a funny thought and a scary one.
After a few minutes Ghost came up to sit next to Soap and started to use some disinfectant around the opening of the wound. Soap did his best to maintain still but any pressure around his arm felt like pain.
“I think I see the bullet's location. Johnny, this is gonna hurt like hell, take this and bite into it, hold on to me if it gets to be too much”
“Right, let’s just get this over with.” Soap took the clean small rolled up towel from Ghost and placed it in my mouth.
Ghost positioned himself in front of both Soap and the light from the lamp and began to prod around with the medical tools as carefully as he could in Soap’s injury. Soap of course started to wince at cold metal meeting his arm.
“Easy Soap”
It was a monumental task to not recoil at the pain,it all felt painfully slow. Soap’s breathing was hard as the pain increased. He grabbed onto his lieutenant's shoulder to distract himself with anything. He was worried that Ghost would object to the action but he remained silent as he continued his task.
“It’s almost out, Johnny, just hang in there a bit more”
Soap only made an approving noise, almost finding his state humorous like a dentist asking their patient questions while having their teeth removed.
But the humor once again vanished as another wave of pain racked his body. This time Soap rested his head on Ghost's shoulder focusing more on biting the small rolled towel in his mouth, it tasted like rubbing alcohol and it stuck to his tongue.
A small sound hitting the floor finally signaled that the worst was over.
“There, it’s out”
Soap stayed silent.
“Soap? Johnny?”
“Sorry sir, just…give me a minute” Soap removed the towel from his mouth and sat back up straight. Ghost assisted him in maintaining his balance as he reached for the disinfectant. Soap expected more pain but it was nothing like the pain he had faced just a few seconds ago.
He hadn't realized he had closed his eyes when he felt Ghost wrap the gauze around his arm. It was almost a strange sensation feeling Ghost be so gentle when all through their missions Soap had seen how aggressive Ghost could be with their enemies.
“Alright Johnny, I think you’ll be good, we’ll get a real medic on you soon enough, but if you feel anything off you let me know immediately”
“Does being tired count as something to report?”
“You can rest in the truck, we have to get going, this was just a temporary stop”
Ghost took all the instruments from the med kit and quickly packed everything back as neatly as he could. Soap’s shirt was still wet and cold on the floor, it wouldn’t do him any good if he was to wear it again. Ghost quickly took off his own humid sweater to take off one of the semi dry layers he had underneath.
“Take this, I’ll help you get your gear on too” Ghost handed his shirt to Soap. Soap could still feel Ghost’s warmth on the shirt as he pulled it over his head, the temperature change made him shiver. The shirt was of course two sizes too big for him but having a dry shirt on was all he could ask for.
The two did their best to make it seemed like they were never in the house to begin with, the last thing they needed was more Shadows on their tail.
The truck creaked as both men got back into their seats and began their journey once again.
Soap wasn’t sure of their destination. He was positive that even if they both made it to the border Graves probably has his men stationed there already. There were no allies to think of around, and if they did, again, Graves was probably one step ahead of them.
They had no one to trust but themselves.
Both men stayed silent for a while, as much as they wanted something to occupy the silence the radio from the truck was sadly busted from the earlier altercation. Soap was more or less thinking about where their destination was, he trusted Ghost to know what to do and where to go. At least Soap thought he could trust Ghost. His memory snapped back to earlier when Ghost mentioned how both of them weren’t friends, but teammates, but he should be lucky that Ghost came to save him at all. It did make Soap’s heart sink a little as he thought that Ghost didn’t consider him anything but a teammate. He hated the fact that he was feeling like some rejected schoolgirl. Soap would be lying to himself if he said he didn’t have some deeper feelings for his lieutenant, He was sure that Ghost didn’t pick up on the over the radio flirting. They were possibly destined to be just teammates. But would teammates go as far as guiding them in a city they don't know? Would they go as far as risking their own lives to save them? Would they treat their wounds? Soap would like to think that they would. Ghost was different, but that was because he knew how to survive, he could have just escaped by himself, but he didn’t, Ghost waited for him.
Maybe he did care.
Soap closed his eyes at the thought. He could think more on that later, right now Soap’s main focus is to make it out alive with Ghost.
A few more minutes of silence passed, Ghost still focused on the road as landmarks to the safehouse were appearing.
Ghost looked to his right to see his sergeant now slowly starting to list ever so closer to him. He panicked for a split second until he realized that Soap finally succumbed to exhaustion. Ghost wasn't necessarily a fan of any sort of intimacy but something in him made him pull Soap close so the man could rest his head on his shoulder. Soap made a noise but ultimately stayed out cold.
That was when the guilt now started to pool in Ghost's stomach.
He hated how silent it was, the only sounds that could be heard were the low rumble of the truck, the wind blowing outside the truck, and Soap’s light snoring.
The quiet gave Ghost's time to think back on how it could have gone wrong. When did Graves exactly get the orders? It was more likely that Graves always had his orders and was simply expecting that Los Vaqueros and the 141 would be okay with the events that had transpired? Graves is an idiot if he thought Alejandro would be on board with giving up his base. An American taking over something that isn’t theirs, it was almost comical if it didn't already make Ghost's blood boil. Adding to the base being taken over, Alejandro was most likely either dead or in Graves' custody, leaving Los Vaqueros without their first in command. Ghost had all hope on Rodolfo hopefully being in the safehouse, if he wasn't then maybe they could find more useful tools and firearms to try to do….something. That left telling Laswell and figuring out why Shepard decided to possibly betray them. Was it a betrayal? It sure as hell felt like one. Ghost couldn't rule out Laswell as a possible suspect either. it was beginning to be too much at once.
He was alone. Or so he thought.
From the corner of his eye he could see Soap still fast asleep. He was glad at least one of them was getting some shut eye. Ghost didn’t want to admit it but him not also getting some rest was due to wondering if Soap was also a part of Graves’ group of traitors. It almost made him feel like a piece of crap for thinking such a thing, Soap was too trusting and tended to concern himself with others more often than not. It was a gamble for Ghost to trust Soap and see if he was still loyal. Their little trip in Las Almas did indeed show Ghost all he needed to, but now he was left with an injured sergeant, a truck with a quarter of gas left, and no other possible allies nearby.
They would make it, they had to.
…
It was about another half an hour or so as more and more of the land became empty, revealing a lone house in the distance signaled that the drive was over.
Ghost lightly shook Soap awake, "Soap, time to wake up, we're here"
Soap groaned as he moved free of his spot, he didn't seem to yet realize that Ghost had been holding him so close.
"How long was I out?"
"Not long, don't worry about it, best to gain your strength back"
"What about you, L.t.? I haven't seen you sleep a wink"
"I'll live, now c'mon let's go" Ghost parked and turned off the engine of the truck. Soap followed close by.
The house was about the same size as the one they had entered earlier, a tall tree with a tire swing present in front of the building. A lawn mower and other tools scattered the outside as well, it looked like just another random home they were about to break into.
“Where are we?”
“Alejandro’s safehouse, game me the location just in case”
Soap huffed at that, “Why didn’t he tell me?”
“It was need to know”
“What if I needed to know–?!”
“Shh”
With weapons in hand both approached the large door to the building, Ghost stopping a few feet in front of it to kneel down and point to something on the ground. Soap got a closer look as well and realized what it was.
“Pressure plate…”
“Alejandro rigged it”
“Smart bastard”
Ghost looked around for any other way in. Unlike the other location this one had an opening not too far from where they were.
“There”
Looking to where Ghost’s gaze fell, Soap saw the window and made his way over, Ghost following not far behind. Soap went in through the opening first and saw how the building actually wasn’t level, he had to take a small jump to the ground below.
Soap poised with his gun swept the area in front with no sign of any movement. Ghost quickly pulled himself upwards onto the windowsill to quickly see a sniper laser poised directly at Soap’s throat.
“Don’t move”
In one quick motion Ghost grabbed one of his knives and threw it in the direction of where the laser’s location was coming from. Soap quickly turned his weapon to the same location.
“¿Quién está ahí?” A voice familiar to Soap called out from behind the wooden pillar.
“Rodolfo!”
“Soap! Ghost! You're alive!” Rodolfo responded as he revealed more of himself from behind his hiding spot.
“Affirmative” Ghost replied back as Rodolfo went to grab the knife from the pillar.
“Good to see you, amigos”
“Igual, amigo” Soap responded in his minimal Spanish.
“Nice throw” Rodolfo stated as he held out Ghost’s knife at a distance to give it back to him. “Where were you guys?”
Ghost spoke first, “On the run”
“I was on the run” Soap could slightly see in his peripheral Ghost give him a quick glance over as he corrected him, “Ghost waited for me”
“Of course, no?” Rodolfo said the statement as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He saw Soap and Ghost as friends, why wouldn’t they wait for each other? It hurt Soap, of course anyone from Los Vaqueros would wait for each other, but he wasn’t a Vaquero, not officially at least, and Ghost runs solo.
“No.” Soap finally said.
“Yes-” Ghost said as soon as Soap finished, “We’re a team…all of us. This happened on my watch and I’ll need help to fix it. No one fights alone.”
Soap felt almost relieved at Ghost’s remarks. Ghost saw them as a team, he wasn't sure when he had a change of heart but hearing Ghost declare such a thing gave Soap new hope.
After going over their plan and what they had to work with, the three men were ready to go, but Rodolfo suggested otherwise. Having seen Soap’s injured arm and the tired that hung in Ghost's eyes, Rodolfo suggested that the men take a rest before heading out.
“There's a room with two beds on the other side of the building, barely used but good to have, please, amigos, rest up, we should be at our best to do our best” Rodolfo stated as he opened the door to the room.
Rodolfo left the two men alone as he went to gather more items for their mission.
“Take a breather, Johnny, I’ll keep watch and-”
“Ohhh no, you’re not doin’ that”
“Doing what exactly?”
“Ghost, it’s your turn to rest now, you can’t possibly tell me that you’re still doing alright”
The thought crossed his mind about lying again but Soap was right. Ghost’s eyes were starting to sting from being open for so long, he knew he could possibly still keep going for a few more hours but if they had a mission to accomplish its best he not be the reason it's jeopardized.
“Fine, you win.” Ghost walked over to one of the beds placed alongside the wall of the building. He rested the gun along the wall not far from where he was, the bed creaked as Ghost sat on the bed.
Soap took the opposite bed and did the same with his own weapon. Even though he slept somewhat, Soap could feel that he did pull something in his neck. He rubbed his neck and could just feel how wound up his body actually was. Soap looked at his injured arm, the wrapping slightly darkened by his blood.
“You should change that when you get the chance”
Soap turned to Ghost’s words. Ghost was lying on his side now, arms crossed and mask still on.
He really did sleep with it on.
“Don't worry about me, L.t., I’m a big boy I can take care of myself”
“That’s not what it seemed like earlier”
“You know what I mean” Soap rolled his eyes and stood up to leave the room but Ghost's next words stopped Soap in his tracks.
“I’m…glad you’re ok, Johnny, for lack of a better word”
Soap turned his head to face his lieutenant, Ghost staring him straight in the eyes as to assure him that the words he spoke were true.
“It’s all thanks to you, Ghost. Honestly I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come back for me, might be a dead man actually”
“We still might be”
“Don’t say that, I know the situation looks grim, but what’s the point of not trying at least”
“Didn’t say we wouldn’t try either”
Soap walked towards Ghost bed and sat next to the taller man, bed objection at the added weight. He was worried Ghost would recoil at their proximity but he remained in the bed.
“Soap?”
“Ghost, I hate to make this sound like my last words, but considering I was almost a dead man back there I feel I should at least tell you that…I’m glad you think of me as a teammate. I really don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t help me, hell, I wasn’t even sure if I could trust you.”
“But you did”
“You’re my L.t., I would follow you to hell and back”
“A dangerous choice really”
“Choices have consequences, and a lot of choices that we didn’t have a say in are affectin’ us right now, I’d like to at least have a say in who I want to die with”, Soap repeated parts of Ghost’s own words back at him.
“I’ll let you get some rest, I know you won’t sleep with me here”
Soap began to rise from the bed but was stopped by a force that held him in place for a moment but then felt himself being pulled downward until he ultimately made contact with the bed and Ghost's chest.
"Ghost?"
"Not a word, Johnny. Just stay here with me will ya?"
It was a strange feeling having his back to Ghost as they both lied on the bed that was definitely not designed for two men. Soap could feel his face get warm as he could feel Ghost wrap his arm around him, even with the mask still on Soap could feel Ghost’s breath on his neck.
Soap wasn’t sure what this meant for both of them, if anything it was a liability, but this was what he wanted, to be closer to Ghost.
…
Soap awoke bleary eyed and unaware of his surroundings for a few seconds until the events of the previous night came back to him, he didn’t know when he had fallen asleep.
Sitting up in bed Soap realized that Ghost was no longer in the bed with him. It upset him more than he would like to admit, and in reality he thought that he had dreamed the entire occurrence. The only thing convincing Soap that he and Ghost had a private moment was the small foldable table with food and a note on the side. The note simply had one phrase scribbled in hasty handwriting.
‘To hell and back
–
S R’’