Chapter Text
Price's POV:
Price had done some digging after you awoke in a panic. Laswell had sent him some files on your life before joining the military. A frown creases his face. He recognized a certain event from your life, Roba. If he was right, and he usually was, you were there the same time Ghost was. But, Ghost had never once mentioned any omegas.
‘Well,’ Price thought wryly, ‘Simon was so out of it when we recovered him, he might not remember.’
Although, it probably wouldn’t cause any harm if he talked to Ghost about it. Even if it might cross some of your boundaries. It could help in the long run for them to grow closer to you. They just so badly wanted you in their pack, you fit perfectly.
When they were first told about being forced with an omega, they weren’t happy. Price had been the one to try and shoot it down, stating they didn’t need an omega to “stabilize” everyone. They were fine without an omega but then they sent you… and you were just perfect. You were jumpy, sure, but without even knowing it, you released tensions that were growing nobody had noticed. They were less snappy, even after such a botched mission. Price felt more content with leading his pack now. They had someone to protect, someone that needed to be protected. Someone who they could be soft with.
Price shakes his head, drawing himself out of his thoughts. He grabs a few papers out of your file, just the ones pertaining to Roba. He wasn’t going to share all of your business with the pack. He’d only gotten all of it so he could support you better.
Or well, that’s what he kept telling himself.
You were still in the infirmary, even a week later, because the staff wanted to keep a very close eye on your burns. If they got infected, especially while you were still so weak, it could easily take you out. So, all of the alphas took shifts of staying by your side during the day. At night, no matter what protest you thought of, they would stay with you. Right now, it was Gaz’s shift. Which meant Ghost would probably be in his room or standing guard outside of your room.
Price walks to Ghost’s room first, it was the least likely, but he could hope Ghost was trying to rest on their off day. That alpha always overworked himself, especially when he was worried.
“Simon?” Price knocks on Ghost’s door, calling out simultaneously. Ghost opens the door, maskless and looking tired. “I found some information on our little darling, I thought this bit might interest you.”
Ghost raises an eyebrow but takes the papers Price was holding out for him. He skims over the text, face growing grim.
“...I know who they are,” Ghost states, eyes growing sad as the memories of you flood back. The way you were always so scared when Roba forced him in the room, trying to force him to force himself onto you. “Roba- he was doing Omega Experiments. I forgot about it- They were there. That’s when we first truly meant.”
Ghost’s voice and scent were becoming more distressed, he was working himself into a panic.The bourbon in his scent became burning and the petrichor was almost like thunder. He remembered your fear, but he remembered how you seemed to warm up to him, before he escaped. He- He had left you there. Christ, he can only imagine the things Roba had done to you. Memories of your terror and mangled body flash in his mind’s eye. That’s why your scent was so messed up, it was part of Roba’s experiment.
“Simon!” Price shouted, holding Ghost’s hands and rubbing soothing circles into the exposed skin there. “Take a deep breath, they’re okay and we’re okay. We’ll just need to talk to them, alright?”
Simon takes a few deep breaths, following Price’s example. A knot he hadn’t noticed slowly released in his chest.
“We’ll need to be careful- What if they haven’t realized who I am yet?” Simon asks, eyes downcast. He wanted nothing more than to sweep you up and hold you close, promising that nothing would never hurt you again. Even though he knew you were safe with Kyle currently keeping you company in medical, he wanted to come find you and see it for himself.
“Then we’ll take it slow. I’ll let you two talk it out and I’ll take watch outside, to make sure nothing happens,” Price reassures the other alpha easily, still not letting go of Simon’s hands. “I’m sure our sergeants would love to go on a food run as an excuse to spoil them, it’d give you an hour easily.”
Simon nods, slowly and considering. A plan forming in his head, something to try and ease everything for you. He’d already done everything he could to help with scarring, he found special creams and was practicing massages for you. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to surprise you with a soft nest when you left medical. Something just for you. They all knew you hadn’t nested yet, but saw the way you had their items close to your pillow when they went to grab blankets for you.
“I have an idea,” Simon states, slowly yet surely. “But only one sergeant needs to go on that food run.”
~
Your POV:
You sat in the hospital room, mostly silent. Your hands fidgeted with one of your blankets, Soap and Ghost had fetched it from your room for you. It was a comfort, to just have something that wasn’t so white and sterile. It was a thick, dark blue blanket. Hand-crocheted. You ordered it online some years ago and it was still your favorite blanket.
Gaz had been here for most of the afternoon, switching with Soap some few hours earlier. Gaz was probably your favorite right now, he was more calm than Soap but more talkative than Ghost or Price. He calmly told stories of their shenanigans before you arrived, managing to draw out a few tired laughs.
“And then Soap had somehow managed to get himself trapped in a car,” Gaz laughed to himself. He had been telling stories of Soap more often, it seemed fitting he got in trouble the most. Right now he was talking about the time Soap managed to get himself locked in the car with a shot electrical system so it wouldn’t unlock. “He was stuck for several hours before we managed to pry the door off. You should tease him about it sometime, he gets really heated about it.”
You chuckle softly, shaking your head. Although you had no true intention of doing it, it was amusing to at least think about. Soap seemed to be the easiest to rile up, then Price(surprisingly), followed closely by Gaz, and then Ghost. He seemed to be the calmest, or well, that’s what you thought before Gaz spilled that he was nothing more than a giant worry-wart.
“Poor Soap, I could never be trapped in a car,” You joke softly, voice hoarse from the lack of use. If they thought you were quiet beforehand, you were practically silent now. The most you talked was to the nurses to answer their questions. “Claustrophobia would make me pass out.”
You could never stand small spaces, not unless you were trying to hide. Roba had thought it would be funny to shove you in small closets with rutting alphas. It always makes you panic nowadays. Thankfully, you didn’t have to worry about it too much. If you needed to go in a small space for a mission, you typically had prior knowledge and could prepare yourself a little better.
“Yeah, small spaces are awful,” Gaz nods knowingly, but adds on jokingly, “can never wear my hat in the bloody spots, pisses me off to show my hat hair.”
Now that makes you laugh a little more. It wasn’t perfect, far from it, but it still made Gaz’s heart skip a few beats and make his face grow a little more red. He could barely stop himself from staring with stars in his eyes as you gently wiped the corner of your eyes. Though, he grows concerned when you wince at the movement.
“I suppose wearing a hat 24/7 flattens your curls, eh?” You ask, raising an eyebrow and ignoring the blatant concern written over his face. He nods slowly, You fondly shake your head again.
“Yeah, it does, and with missions it's not very often I get to do a full routine on it,” He explains and you nod in acknowledgement.
You could feel your eyelids begin to grow heavy and the ever present exhaustion nagging at you again. Since your… accident, you had very little energy. Your body was more focused on healing the burns and your broken bones, though you only had two. Your radius and tibia. That mixed with your pain medications, you were down onto hydrocodones now, just made you very tired. Gaz smiles knowingly, gently grabbing your right hand and rubbing circles on it.”
“Take a nap, one of us’ll be here when you wake, okay?”
You nod once again, humming out something like an agreement before sleep washes over your consciousness. A soft darkness, one that doesn’t scare you. You feel safe within its hold.
When you wake again, Ghost had replaced Gaz. He had a simple black hospital mask on. How he found it in black, you’ll never know. Though, you would expect nothing else from the man. He was so gently holding one of your hands, just like Gaz had, and was so gently rubbing his thumb over some of the bandages there. You could barely feel it and it almost tickled.
Ghost, with your silent observation, seemed almost sad today. He hadn’t let it seep into his scent, that you admittedly found a lot of comfort in, which probably meant it wasn’t too serious. Hopefully, anyway.
“How long was I asleep?” You ask, wincing at the sound of your scratchy voice. Ghost is quick to hand you a small glass of water, though he doesn’t let go of your hand.
That was something new. Usually Ghost wasn’t so… touchy with you. He was more touchy with literally any other pack- any other member of the 141, especially Soap. Though, from what you could tell, Soap had initiated most of those touches. He was the most touchy in general, even with you he found excuses.
“Hour or so, it’s just past 1500 now,” Ghost states simply. That was a shorter nap for you, you were slightly surprised you hadn’t slept for longer.
You let it fall silent again as you sip on your water. The cool liquid felt great on your throat, though you wished you had some sort of broth. Or soup. Or just something flavorful, the medical food was so tasteless and bland. It made you really miss your family’s cooking. Or hell, even the mess’s food was more flavorful. It had to be a talent to make food so unappealing.
Ghost, on the other hand, was silently panicking. He wanted to talk to you but he had no clue how to start that sort of conversation. How would you react? Would you be mad? Would you blame him for leaving you to escape on your own? There were so many things to go wrong with the talk he wanted to start. He wasn’t even supposed to know! Price was the one that told him. Gods above he hoped you didn’t push him away.
“I know about Roba,” Ghost starts and immediately winces as your eyes grow wide to stare at him. Your scent, no matter how faint it is, grows terrified. He hates it. So then he spits out, “I was there too.”
You stay silent, mind whirring. The scent of your terror fills the room, creating a dark tension. You barely even notice when your hands begin shaking so bad that the small amount of water left in your cup threatens to spill out. Ghost - no he’s Simon at this moment- Simon gently grabs it to set aside and then holds your hands together.
“When- no-” The words spill out of your mouth out of your own volition, tears burning your eyes but not yet falling. Simon lets you process it for a few moments before continuing.
“That’s when we first met, I don’t expect you to remember, but I was one of the people Roba forced into the room with you,” He continued gently. Your eyes snap up to meet him, searching his face for any lies or traces of deceit.
Simon was telling the truth, no matter how devastating it may be.
“It’s- it’s /you/-” You choke out, hand gently grabbing his face. You remembered him now. The quiet alpha, the one who tried to help. You had no clue he managed to escape. Tears fall now and you can’t stop them.
The memories flood over you. You can’t stop the way your breathing picks up and reality seems to blur. Your hands rapidly tense and relax in Simon’s hands. Simon watches as your eyes rapidly grow hazy and you lose into an awful panic attack caused by those awful, /awful/, memories.
“C’mon pup, I need you to breathe with me,” Simon tries to guide you through a breathing exercise, but it isn't helping. He tried putting your hand to his heart too, but that didn’t help either. “Fuck- John!”
Price, who had been standing guard outside to make sure no nurses walked in during the talk, pokes his head in at the yell of his name. His eyes go wide and he rushes over to help.
Price guides Simon’s hands, which were still holding your’s, to Simon’s chest to feel his breathing. Then, Price gently props you up and rubs circles on your upper arms. It helps some, having a few forms of gentling contact, but it doesn’t draw you out of your panic the entire way.
“Doll, we need you to breathe, focus on Simon now,” Price quietly talks to you, keeping his voice low and soothing. “In for 4… Hold for 5… And out for 4… there you go, doing so good for us.”
It takes another few minutes of the gentle breathing exercises but you eventually work your way out of the panic. You blink slowly, forcing yourself to follow the same breathing pattern. Focusing on Simon’s hands helps, too. He was real, you were real, Price was real.
Your head lolls forward and lands against Simon’s chest, right above your conjoined hands. To just quietly take in the scent of your alpha. It helps the residual panic fade as well. And with Price still murmuring quiet praises, it works even faster. The alphas’ mixed scent made you feel more protected. You were safe, you were safe with them.
“There you go, pup, so good,” Simon’s voice joins in with the soft praises and your body relaxes further. He frees one of his hands to gently rub on your back, subtly bringing you closer to him. You don’t mind when you notice.
You haven’t felt so safe in years. The last time you felt this safe was with your old pack, and that makes this sweet moment a little more bitter for you. Would they blame you for moving on? Or would they be happy for you? Christ… you just hope they’ve found peace in whatever afterlife there is.
“Sorry-”
“No, no, you don’t need to apologize for that,” Price immediately cuts off your apology. “We brought up bad memories and didn’t realize it would cause you such distress, and for that I believe we owe you an apology. For that; I’m sorry, Doll.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Simon nods, still rubbing on your back. You just hum out your acceptance of their apology. It wasn’t fine, not truly, but you could forgive them.
Silence washes over the room, but it’s not tense. It’s more warm than not. It makes you want to drift off again, panic attacks always drained so much energy from you. But you had just taken a nap and you didn’t want to lose this moment. It was the softest Simon and Price had been to you since you arrived. You felt more accepted into the pack, even if you hadn’t been offered a spot yet.
Maybe Price would offer you one before you were forced to leave. You hoped he would.
But that’s for another time. For now, it was your time to talk.
“I do remember you,” You murmur into Simon’s chest, hiding your face. The position was uncomfortable but you don’t think you could do this conversation while making eye contact. “You were the most… caring alpha, the others just followed orders without apologies.”
Simon makes a noise in the back of his throat and it almost sounds like Price let a growl slip out. You didn’t mind. It didn’t scare you.
“You were the reason I joined the military, anyways,” You add on, almost like an afterthought. Simon pulls back a little to stare at your face, though you’re stubbornly avoiding eye contact still.
Though, Simon would never let that slide. Not over something so serious, so personal. Nor would Price, as he gently tilts your chin up to meet the alpha’s faces. Your face flushes out of embarrassment.
Until Simon removes his mask and lets go of your hands to cup your cheek. You admittedly stare because he looks the same, healthier, but the same. The strong cheekbones and the same, but more, crooked nose. He softly smiles at you to encourage you to continue talking.
“I… I figured if I was strong like you had been I wouldn’t be…” You trail off, voice breaking. They give you a moment to find your confidence and voice again. You appreciated the moment. “I wouldn’t’ve gone through that again.”
Simon nods knowingly and Price gently smiles. It still looks like a quokka smile and it almost makes you want to laugh. Although, you really don’t have the energy for that. This talk took a lot out of you, and Simon was so freaking warm. You didn’t want to sleep yet, you still had more to say, more to ask.
“How- mm… how did you deal with the scars?” You ask softly, searching Simon’s eyes.
He sighs, lips pulling down into a small frown, “With time, kept pushing forward, I suppose. I had to be stronger than the memories, and Price with the rest of our pack helped with that.” Simon wasn’t mad at your question, it made a lot of sense. However, he did have something to ask you. “What was Roba trying to achieve with you?”
You freeze for a moment. You knew exactly what he was trying to achieve from you, after all the beta had explained it all in great detail. Roba had loved toying with you, even complimented your reactions on several occasions.
“An indestructible drug mule,” You softly admit, willing your muscles to relax. You were shaking again but if you didn’t explain now, you never would. “He wanted to destroy my scent so it was harder to track, then… fortified me from the inside out so if the drugs burst, they wouldn’t affect me. And the heats…” You shudder, “forced me into heats so I would be more… compliant.”
Simon growls in the back of his throat. He squeezes you closer, it was almost like a quiet reassurance. You lean into it. It’s not him that speaks next, but Price.
“You never deserved that, doll,” Price says quietly, but with conviction. Part of you said you deserved it for so long because of what happened with your old pack. You blamed yourself heavily for their deaths. It was another piece of why you were a battle medic and sent into the field despite being an omega. You would prevent more deaths. “You deserved so much better, love.”
You hum something out, neither agreement or disagreement. It was little more than acknowledgement. You don’t notice Price’s frown or Simon’s frown growing. Price knew you had been through a lot, but he never realized how deeply it affected you still.
And then you yawn, effectively breaking the tension again. Exhaustion tugs at you. This talk has taken a lot out of you.
“Go to sleep, doll, you’ve earned it.”
Which is the last thing before sleep claims you again. The arm Simon has wrapped around your back squeezes you close, making it all the harder to fight off sleep. Damn alphas, knowing your weak spots.
After a few moments, to make sure you were really asleep, Price talks again.
“I’ll get them discharged so they can recover more in their room, I’m sure Johnny has finished his task and Kyle is on his way back to base,” Price takes his leave out of your hospital room. Simon gives him a nod but doesn’t take his gaze off of you.
~
Soap’s POV:
Soap had just gotten the call from Price that he had about another 30 minutes before you were returned to your room.
And he had barely started on his task. He had a last minute recruit training shoved on him so he completely forgot! That was fine, he could easily clean this up, He could easily speed through his task, there was a reason he had been assigned it, after all.
He was the only alpha among 4 siblings, so he knew how to build a damn good nest.
Soap grabs blankets from around your room, and spare pillows from Price’s storage closet. The older alpha wouldn’t mind, not if it was for you. He lays the pillows in a circle before covering them with a blanket and firmly tucking it in. Though, as he builds this, he’s being extremely careful to not rub his scent into it. This was for you.
Hell, Soap had even put on scent blockers before doing this. Something he /hated/. They were far too scratchy and irritated his skin. He’d suffer through it for you, you deserved it.
So the alpha is quick to get to work and finish building the nest. He sets their original scented items off to the side, on your nightstand. Even if they’d been close to your pillow before, he wasn’t going to assume that’s where you wanted to keep them. Soap had learned not to assume such things after his sisters complained and taught him better.
He’d need to send them a gift for teaching him about all of this.
After finishing up your new nest, he goes around your room to pick it up. It wasn’t overly messy, more of an organized chaos, but he just tidied it up so it was easier to get around. He brought in another hamper to sort clean and dirty clothes as well, because he knew folding clothes was a hellish task but separating them from dirty was very important.
Once Soap finished up his task, he had just a few minutes left. Price had texted him some 15 minutes ago saying you were officially discharged and Ghost was getting you situated in a wheelchair to move. The elder alpha included a picture as well, which was you blowing a raspberry at someone off camera, presumably that was Ghost. You had that blanket wrapped around you and you were covered in more bandages than clothes. You had some loose pants on, which looked like Gaz’s, but no shirt because your entire torso was covered in bandages. There was no immediate need for a shirt. It was endearing to see you opening up around them, showing more of your true personality.
~
Your POV:
You had woken up from your nap, which was far too short being only about 30 minutes. Then you were being shoved (see: gently set) into a wheelchaired and fussed over. You blame the pain meds for acting like a brat and blowing a raspberry at Ghost. The alpha had just smiled and had blown one back at you, showing no sympathy.
“C’mon, we need to finish up your discharge papers and then we’ll wheel you back to your room,” Price explained to you as Ghost wheeled you over to the nurse’s station. “There’s just a few things you need to sign saying you understand risks with infections.”
You nod at his words, your hands fussing with your blanket. It smelled more like a hospital now than comfort, so you were glad to be going back to your room. Granted, you wouldn’t be able to do anything for a while. You couldn’t walk or use one of yours arms so you were still reliant on help, but Price had reassured you that someone from the team was going to be constantly with you until you were fully healed. And if for some reason they were sent out on a mission, the nurses would save a room for you.
It was reassuring to have everything explained to you, it made everything seem more in control than it originally felt. So, you barely blinked when you signed your discharge papers. Out of all honesty, you just wanted to go back to your room. Maybe nest, but you doubted you could build a comfortable nest in your current condition.
“There ya go, dearie, all set to go,” The lovely older nurse explained to you, a beta. She reminded you of one of your old packmates, someone who just loved to give care. “Price, they’ll need pain meds every 4 hours with something to eat. No strenuous activities, and generally they need to baby their injuries.”
Price nods in understanding while you jokingly roll your eyes. It wasn’t your first time getting injured on the field, though it was to this degree, so you knew you needed to be extra careful with your injuries. Especially because your immune system was a little weaker than the average person’s from your time of being a human experiment.
Ghost and Price chat while on the way back to your room, you weren’t really paying attention.
What does catch your attention is Soap bouncing on his heels outside your room, looking positively elated. You raise an eyebrow at him, asking the silent question. Price and Ghost stop walking as Soap approaches.
“C’mon we have a surprise for you!” Soap exclaims and steals your wheelchair commander spot from Ghost, beginning to push you into your room.
And /oh/
There was a giant, comfortable looking nest on your bed. Gaz was in your room, too, setting up some food on a card table. It was pizza and garlic bread. Your room was clean as well. It was all of it combined that made you tear up.
“Hey, hey, lad, what’s wrong?” Soap is quick to ask, immediately assuming something is wrong. “Ghraidh, is it not to your liking?”
You shake your head as the rest of the pack surrounds you with worried eyes. Soap is the one to grab your hands this time.
“No- no, it’s perfect, thank you,” You give him a small smile and he beams again. “I just… wasn’t expecting it, is all. I appreciate it.”
Soap waves off your thanks, “nae, its not needed. You deserve the best comfort, ghraidh!”
You fondly shake your head for the second time today. Which means you’re thoroughly caught off guard as Gaz picks you up from the wheelchair to set in your new nest. You adjust a few things, like grabbing their scented items and burrowing them within your nest, and throw your favorite blanket over everything.
“You’ve got to eat now, darling, you want cheese or pepperoni?” Gaz asks after you arrange everything to your liking.
But it was missing something. It just smelled like your scent, something you still detested. Your eyebrows furrow as you look around your room, eyes lingering on a few items that could work but weren’t perfect.
You knew what was missing.
“‘M not hungry, just want you guys in here with me.”
And that’s how you fall asleep for the night. Surrounded by pack in your nest, all covered in your favorite blanket. You were squished in the middle, not that you would change anything. You were warm on all sides and it smelled right. All the alphas’ scents covering yours’.