Chapter Text
Say you want the moon
Watch me learn to fly
Ain't no mountain you could point to
I wouldn't climb
I'd risk it all for you
He could feel the fire burning his skin. Charring it to a crisp. The pain was unexplainable, he wanted to scream, thrash, vomit, just anything, but the bullet lodged deep in his heart had other plans. The flames forced their way through his body, ripping skin off of bones until the whites were exposed, burning those till there were just ashes too.
He felt his helmet melting until it fused with his head, He felt his goggles shattering from the heat of the fire, He felt his vest slowly crumbling apart, He felt fucking everything, every little gust of wind, every burst of warmth form the fire, even the soft graze of the grass against his sweat-slick skin.
Roach couldn't move, eyes staring deep into his own lover's empty irises. Oh how he missed seeing those soft turquoise eyes everyday before training.
He hoped that one day, in some universe shepherd never betrayed them. He would wake from his bed sprawled over Simon like he did that morning, walking out to join Soap and price, joking and laughing together happily. The problems in their life simply an afterthought.
“When I die, I want you to be nice. I want you to make jokes. I want you to keep going. I want you to live instead of me too.” Ghost had said to him once. Back when they were just friends. the weight it held now fueled the pain in his heart, it was almost as if ghost knew their end was coming soon, but he didn't realize soon meant so soon.
The sizzle of the fire blended into the background as he remembered those words. His body felt cold despite the fire surrounding him, the warmth missing from it.
Blood stained the ground around him, a crimson mark for his final grave besides Simon. His eyes drifted close, desperate for an escape from the jail of fire and agony of his own mind.
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Roach awoke slowly. His vision stayed hazy before it focused onto whatever lay infront of him
He searched for a blinding light, maybe he was in heaven or some bullshit, but no, instead he was met with that same blue sky he previously died with.
Smoke clouded the air, He braced for an imaginary fire but it never came, slowly but surely he sat up, spotting shepherd walking to the heli he had waved down earlier.
The sight of shepherd walking away ever so calmly unlocked a level of anger Roach didn't even know he could handle. Their traitor now walking free towards the heli without taking accountability for his actions.
Roach shot up, he could have sworn his body felt heavier but he assumed it must be the adrenaline aiding him right now. He sprinted towards the man, pushing his legs to go as fast as they could as he tackled the General.
Roach braced for the fight, he opened his eyes expecting to see a startled Shepherd under him but all he saw was his own hands weirdly enough.
He had phased through shepherd. Roach stood there in confusion, glancing back at shepherd who walked through him, not even sparing a glance as if he were invisible.
Gary stood still, body frozen in place as he processed what was happening. His head snapped to look at where he had woken from, his charred body sat there, hand extended towards ghost, But roach had already stood up?
Slowly the pieces came together. He was a ghost. He didn't know how that could happen, he expected the afterlife to be in another region, away from earth, not in the same dimension. For the soul's eternal resting place someplace else.
He looked at his hands, they were translucent. Roach turned his head to Ghost's corpse, the dreaded pain coming back to him at the sight. He waited for Ghost to wake too, just like how he did.
Roach stalked over to ghost's body, taking a moment to compose himself at the sight of the body.
"Ghost?" he asked, met with silence. He reached down, expecting nothing of it as he grabbed Simon's shoulders and pulled them up, instead pulling up a very startled and shaken Simon.
"Roach?" Ghost repeated, his eyes were masked in fear and shock, face scrunched up in disbelief at what was happening. Roach sat there for a moment, crouched down next to his lover, the same lover who he thought he would never see again. The same lover he witnessed getting pierced by a bullet.
He wrapped his arms around ghost in a tight embrace, squeezing him until his arms felt numb. "What's going on?" Ghost questioned, still in complete shock, confusion slowly taking over, but he passionately returned the hug.
"I don't know." Roach replied honestly, his voice cracking halfway through. his chin sitting on Ghost's shoulder, he never wanted to let go of him, to keep him in his embrace forever, until they both inevitably fused together.
Roach felt tears prickling his eyes, threatening to spill over. He sniffled, only hugging ghost tighter, seeking comfort. Their bodies still sat under them, a stark reminder of the fate they almost suffered.
Ghost's hand came up to stroke roach's head soothingly while he sniffled into his shoulder silently, simply holding him up. Roach's shoulders shook in suppressed sobs, holding back his tears for the sake of his dignity, but his chances were looking grim.
A wave of solace washed over Gary, curling further into ghost as he sobbed. Roach was grateful he was given a second chance, he never knew what for, what he could have done that gave him the privilege of another chance.
Being able to see Ghost alive again was something he thought would only happen in his imagination, he would be forced to live with the aforementioned fate.
Roach was never a religious man, being in the military meant seeing atrocities no deity would wish upon humanity if they supposedly loved them so much, but hell he thanked every god up there he knew of for the chance, for the mercy upon him.
"Easy- It's okay" he reassured roach, hand rubbing soothing circles on Gary's back, tears burned his own eyes as much as he couldn't help it, The warm embrace of his partner everything he could've asked for.
Roach felt complete with Simon. that part of him that always felt like something was missing finally disappeared when he was with Simon, like a missing puzzle piece. He could show Ghost his real self, he could be vulnerable with him, he could be friendly with him, he could be bitchy with him and yet ghost still stayed by him, never leaving him or being indifferent.
Ragged breaths filled the air as Roach let it all out.
Hard mornings. Rough Evenings. Shitty nights yet Roach still stuck by Ghost in every scenario, a comforting presence even when he didn't want to talk, always waiting for him patiently. An anchor to hold onto during storms. the rainfall during droughts. The air to his lungs.
Even when the world was in shambles and almost their entire team was dead; they still stuck by each other. Even if they were alone in this world; they still had each other.
He had no idea what would happen next. What they would do as ghosts, maybe haunt Captain Price and Soap, Maybe finally get the countryside getaway he always dreamed of. Maybe just live a simple life together, roaming around aimlessly in each other's presence.
But whatever it was, he would figure it out besides Roach.
Always by his side.
Always in his support
Always together.
Roaches; known for their resilience towards death.