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Price had very suddenly called all of them into the meeting room. He hadn’t thought much about it at first, almost sure that it wouldn’t be too bad. They were the 141st after all, they had been through enough that they didn’t worry about much
Johnny sat down in his usual seat and looked around the room. He spotted his lieutenant settling onto the filing drawers behind Price’s desk. The man was perched like a cat on the metal structure, long legs dangling above the floor crossed at the ankle. He couldn’t help but rake his eyes across his body and appreciate the man’s long frame.
He also couldn’t help that, when Ghost made eye contact, he sent a wink and a signature smile. He got an eye roll as his reward and it only made him smile wider. He loved the games that he played with the man. The flirting that they would do over comm on mission, the little banter between them in the mess.
It was all in good fun. Johnny never pushed the man too far. He kept his feet planted firmly within the friendly flirting zone. But that also didn’t mean that he wasn’t slowly stretching his neck out towards actual flirting.
He had no idea how the other man thought about him, but he hadn’t been told to stop yet, so he wasn’t going to. He figured that Ghost could beat him to a pulp without breaking a sweat so if he did something that the man didn’t like, he would let him know.
Johnny couldn’t drift too far into his thoughts about the intricacies of his relationship with the masked man because Price dropped into his seat and cleared his throat. The man looked like he had aged in the past few hours since he’d been seen last.
He raised an eyebrow as the man took of his signature hat and rubbed his temples with his fingertips. With a groan he dropped his hands and looked around the room, “I was just informed by Laswell a couple of minutes ago that there has been an information leak. We suspect Sheppard is behind this. I figured you boys should be the first to know. All of the 141st files have been leaked online and cyber is working to scrub every copy of them from the internet. The only problem is that we have no idea who has already seen the information before it has been taken down.”
The man paused, letting that information sink in. The room seemed to be holding their breath, no one wanted to speak first. If all their files, their personal information, was leaked they were in deep shit.
Price spoke again, “I already have begun sending trusted teams to be with your families so that if there is an attack on them, they will be safe. As for us, we have been shut down until we know the extent of who has gotten info from the leak. We are staying put here until further notice.”
Johnny’s eyes flickered around the room, trying to determine how everyone was feeling. There was a general feeling of anxiety and unease. He saw Gaz shifting nervously, he knew that the man would be out of the room and calling his mom as soon as they were dismissed.
His gaze moved around and finally landed behind Price on Ghost. He saw that the man was deathly still, he couldn’t even see him breathing. Stiff as a board, there was so much tension in his shoulders. This affected Ghost, he realized suddenly.
Johnny himself didn’t care any more than a normal person, he had no family left so the only person they could hurt was him. But from watching Ghost’s reaction he wondered what he didn’t know. He had never heard the man talk about family, or about a significant other.
The thought of Ghost keeping that kind of a thing from him made sense. He was so private about everything, but it still hurt a bit. He had to resolutely ignore the stab of hurt that came along with the thought of the man having a significant other.
To be honest he didn’t know the first thing about the man in that realm. For all he knew Ghost had a bonnie lass back home and all the flirting that they did was just in good fun. Nothing real too it.
He couldn’t help but wonder what it was that had Ghost so strung up right now. He was so focused on watching the other man that he missed the short conversation between Gaz and Price until the Captain was clearing his throat and everyone was focusing on him again.
“I’m sorry boys, I know that this isn’t what you were expecting. Just try to keep your chins up and when there is more to be done, I’ll make sure that you are the first to know. In the meantime if you need anything from me, just let me know.”
He seemed like he was wrapping up the meeting and Ghost started to fidget, his elbow hitting the cabinet next to him with a loud bang. Price turned slightly to catch the man in his peripherals, “Alright back there?”
Ghost let out a noise that acknowledged that he heard the man, but also like he was still trying to find words in that moment.
Price turned to give the man his full attention, everyone was watching him now. It wasn’t every day that they saw Ghost nervous.
“Do you have something you want to say, Simon,” Price asked.
Johnny was shocked when the man honest to god wrung his hands, fidgeting nervously, “Like our whole files Captain? Our entire service records?”
He nodded, “Afraid so, son.”
Ghost nodded, as if that solidified his thought, “Then yeah, I guess I do.”
Johnny felt like he could cut the tension in the room with a knife. He wished he could think of a witty joke to throw out, just to be able to settle everyone a little bit. His stupid brain wasn’t giving him anything to work with.
Simon shifted again, looking sort of in Johnny’s direction but certainly wasn’t making eye contact with him. He cleared his throat, then didn’t say anything. Everyone waited for him to speak, no one was going to interrupt The Ghost if he had something to say.
Then he cleared his throat again and Johnny couldn’t help but feel bad, whatever it was, the poor man was having a hell of a time trying to get it out.
After one more clear of his throat he could see Price start to draw in a breath, likely to tell the man to get on with it. Ghost spoke, voice clear but the unease was apparent in the sound, “I don’t think I was ever going to tell you guys… But I figure it’s probably better for you to hear it from me than from someone else down the line because of this leak.”
He took a deep breath before continuing, “It was years ago at this point, but since I had to tell my commanding officer it’s in my record. I was in a relationship with my sergeant, I mean I was before they were killed.”
Johnny was a bit confused at that one, but Price was the one who seemed to speak for the group, “Thank Simon, but why are you telling us this? If your superior officer signed off on it, I don’t think any of us are worried about any improper use of power with you, even if it was fraternization by technicality.”
Even through the mask Soap could see the man swallow hard, he leaned forward in his chair. Completely focused on the Lieutenant and whatever he was about to say.
Ghost took in a breath, “I just wanted to let you all know because my sergeant was a man. And I’m- uh well I’m gay.”
“FUCKING JACKPOT!” Johnny was out of his seat the moment the words left Ghost’s lips. His fist in the air and his volume entirely too high.
Every single pair of eyes snapped to him and he realized, belatedly, that perhaps that was not the time for an outburst of excitement. He immediately sat back down and looked at the floor, “I mean- uhhh thank you for sharing with us LT. Sorry it had to come up in these circumstances.”
He risked a glance at the man and was relieved that he wasn’t on the receiving end of a signature Ghost death stare. Instead, the man’s eyes showed an interesting mix of unreadable and surprised.
Price coughed, trying to relive some of the tension. Gaz reached over and smacked the shit out of the back of his head, leveling him with a stare that said Nice going hotshot.
“Soap’s right, I mean at least for the second part. Thank you for telling us, Simon,” Price said, his voice steady and supportive, “I know that’s a hard thing to do. I just want you to know that we don’t see you any differently, if that was what you were so worried about.”
Ghost nodded, not saying anything at that point. The silenced stretched for a long time, everyone’s gaze bouncing around until finally Simon spoke up, “Will that be all, Captain?”
The man nodded quickly, “Yes, you all can go. Soap, you and I need to have a word.”
His face immediately went red, he probably deserved a talking to after his outburst. Johnny nearly jumped out of his seat when Ghost placed a hand on his shoulder as he passed by. His head whipping around to stare after the man. He started out looking at the Lieutenant’s back, but then… What is that saying again? Hate to see them leave but love to watch them go.
God damn that man was a sight to behold, he had such a nice ass. Johnny’s view was cut off by the door shutting behind him and he slowly turned back to Price. The man was looking at him with an expression that was so not impressed with his antics. Johnny knew that he’d been caught staring at his Lieutenant’s ass.
He couldn’t even help it when he started blabbering, trying to explain himself as his hands moved around wildly, “Look Captain I wasn’t tryin’ta be disrespectful or make LT feel bad. I mean- I just- he’s such a good lookin’ bloke- and I couldn’t help it! I juss got excited is all!”
Price let out a deep sigh, letting his head fall into his hands, “Soap you can’t just say shit like that to people when they tell you things. Especially when those people is Ghost and he just came out to us, which as you could tell was a difficult thing for him to do.”
“Would it have helped if I told everyone I was bi?”
“Johnny anyone with working ears knows that you are bisexual. You won’t shut up about all the hot guys and gals at the bars we go to.”
“Sir, you can’t blame me that much. I mean have ya seen Ghost? The man has the nicest ass I have seen in years. I mean c’mon who wouldn’t want to grab a piec-”
Price’s voice was sharp and loud as he interrupted, “OUT Sergeant! Get out of my office and stop staring at my Lieutenant’s ass. Or anyone’s ass for that matter, jus- just go, I cannot deal with you right now.”
Soap let out a laugh as he bounced up from his seat and made his way out the door. He gave the Captain a two fingered salute before closing the door behind him.
As the door shut and he turned he immediately came face to chest with the man he was just talking about. A startled yelp was forced out of his throat as he saw the man leaning up against the wall and looking right at him.
He took in a deep breath trying to calm himself down, hands on his knees. It took him a second but eventually his heart wasn’t trying to beat out of his chest and he scowled up at the man who was laughing at him, “You bloody bastard, you scared the shit out of me.”
Ghost just laughed, still lounging against the wall casually, “The nicest ass you’ve seen in years?”
Johnny’s face felt so hot that he was sure steam was coming out of his ears at this point. He tried to scowl at the man but was sure that his expression landed somewhere closer to embarrassed, “Eavesdropping bastard.”
He saw Ghost shrug, “It’s nice to be appreciated sometimes.”
Soap was going to kill the cocky bastard. He really was, but Ghost continued to talk before he could tell him as much, “Besides, it’s not every day that coming out has someone jumping into the air with excitement.”
His face still felt hot, and he rubbed the back of his neck, “I suppose I should probably apologize. I wassnea tryin’ to make you uncomfortable LT. I’m sorry.”
Ghost just chuckled at him, “It’s quite alright Johnny. Certainly, one of the better reactions I’ve had to coming out.”
Johnny looked up at his eyes, he could tell from what he saw that the man had a few bad experiences kept up there. He hated it, he knew there was nothing he could do to change the past, but still he wished he could.
“So, Johnny,” the man drawled, leaning lazily up against the wall, his gaze draping over his body appreciatively, “If you’d be so inclined… are you gonna keep me in suspense or do you feel like sharing which way you swing as well?”
Johnny grinned up at the man, chest puffing a bit under Ghost’s watchful eye, “A bit ambidextrous myself. So, you know, both ways.”
He could practically see the smile through the Lieutenant’s mask, he murmured low, only loud enough for him to hear, “Jackpot.”