Chapter Text
Mission - “Spill”
Never did you think that extracurricular photography club would culminate into you taking pictures in an active combat zone; bullets flying over your head to the sounds of your camera taking in every breath you take- waiting for the seemingly restless barrage of led to miraculously come to a halt.
Yet you knew better; you knew exactly what was going to stop the heartache inducing thunder and the sound of a door clashing against a wall- shouts echoing into the night sky as the distinctive sound of a trigger being pulled drilled its sound once again into your veins; hands shaking- you held your position behind cover with your camera and small gun in hand. Awaiting the news to come to you- only to hear a scream.
↳ A Few Months Before…
You walked down the bustling city streets on your way back to the apartment, the cheery open signs on each storefront mocked your wincing complexion to the wind picking up and forcing its way between the tall buildings. Holding your jacket closer to your frame, you picked up your pace and awaited for the light to turn green.
Your feet stagger when you get shoved on the crosswalk, a distant sorry! Can be heard echoing its way through the wind as you shake your head and check your watch, your cat will need their medication soon you thought to yourself; twisting the key into the hole as your door swung open and shut.
Kicking off your running shoes, dropping your bags off in the dining room and collecting your coat for the closet. You cat, Spoons, wedged his way in between your legs while purring loudly in his big boned glory. Kneeling down to pet him, he jumps into your arms and settles upon your shoulders as you find your way to the kitchen- looking for his medication. The distant sounds of traffic fill the apartment as you grab yourself a new glass of water before returning back to work as Spoons moved back to your bedroom for a much needed nap.
Sitting at your desk, you looked across its surface for inspiration to write. You look at your cold take-out coffee, a random spam flyer from your mailbox and the stack of unkempt journals- their pages holding on by the threads of seams; much similar to your sanity as a black pen swirled around your fingertips. Biting your lip in concentration and blowing the strand of hair from out your eyes, you groan and skin back farther into your chair- head empty besides mindless anxieties mocking your every thought.
A ping could be heard coming from your jacket pocket as you mentally hype yourself to move from your position of pure self-pity. You could hear your instructor practically screaming into your ear about posture as you sluggishly put one foot in front of the other.
Unzipping the pocket it now rings in your hand, a number scrolls through the top of the screen as your background blurs to show the caller ID- My Fish (Gabby) . Your finger briefly hovers over the red decline button before ultimately selecting the green alternative.
"Hey Bubbles"
" How many fucking times do I have to say it. It's Gabby for you unless you have recently decided to trade in your thousand dollar lenses for one of common sense?"
You pause for dramatic effect as Gabby groans through the other-side of the phone, perfectly imagining you tapping your middle finger to your chin blatantly in her face.
" Now that you mention it, that doesn't sound half bad right now. Where did you get yours? From a discount bin by any chance? "
" The only discount I need is on hair transplants . I can only pull so much out from dealing with all you idiots" Gabby deadpans back as you can't help but laugh- stress evaporating off your shoulders with every sentence exchanged.
" You love me still though, isn't that right Finnley?"
" Call me Finnley one more time and see what happens "
" Is that a challenge or an offer? Because I'm down for either or... " You train off with a flirty tone, eyes moving from your miss-matched socks to out your apartment window; watching as the sky clouds over, thankful that you made it back before the rain started.
" I swear to fucking..." Gabby starts, the rest is a mumble underneath her breath as you hear their surrounding change and their voice echoes more; the distant murmurs of other conversations can now be heard in the background.
" Me?" You add like a mad-libs puzzle as Gabby threatens to end the call, yet the soft tone she later responds with has you experiencing whiplash and nearly tripping over your coffee table.
" Look, I really need you here- I know with your history... " She quickly begins to throw information at you that you can barely comprehend with its speed, " yet swear that it will be worth it. Just let me explain, do you have more time right now? " Looking down at your watch, it was half-past one and the only plans you had were involving a stroll downtown for another late coffee.
The next half an hour of information dumping has you falling into your bed with the load of it; Spoons meows loudly at you, obviously not happy being woken from his nap. Turning your head to the ceiling you watch as the ceiling fan spins above your head as you contemplate their words while stringing a series of curses and fish puns down the phone line before you respond clearly,
" So... where exactly is here?"
And the next thing you know you were being escorted to a military base and placed on a bench in a random hallway, awaiting to be let inside a room across the way. Your memories flickered through the forefront of your thoughts as you reminisce about all the times you sat in this exact position- being watched by authoritative figures with Gabby by your side in basic training over something you both (totally did not) do together.
The most startling part was when you looked back to the empty bench beside you; it was now filled by a skull mask staring you down silently. Your whole body jolts; eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights as you compress a large gasp of shock and you swear you hear a chuckle coming from behind the cloth as you place a hand on your chest and do your best to calm your breathing.
Looking away now, you hunch your body over as your shoulders begin to rise up and down in uneven motions; doing your best to compress sounds of laughter that have taken over your once scared self as you notice their large frame shuffle awkwardly on the small bench. The intimidating factor lessens once their eyes meet and yours crinkling with a soft smile in recognition.
" Hello Ghost, It appears I have bared witness to the name I have heard the oh so many stories about. Y/N Y/L/N, it's a pleasure to meet you, " You greet the man softly while extending your hand to meet his confused outstretched one; head tilting and eyes narrowing in a very cat-like motion, your thoughts travel back to Spoons most likely sunbathing on the windowsill back at home.
Simon tries to formulate how you gathered this information- looking at you intently now, he had never seen or much less heard someone described with your features on the base before. Yet giving his hand a quick squeeze, he nodded in response while giving yours a shake and dropping it soon after. You peered at the door across the hallway yet no signs of movement were to be seen as you sighed and made the tough decision of carrying out small talk or not.
Yet your mental war would soon be forgotten as a loud voice echoed off the walls in accented excitement. As the figure grew closer, you noticed him to have a mohawk that had you impressed by how well it was maintained. You would also become further impressed by them giving you a pat on the shoulder as a prominent Scottish accent greeted you with utmost kindness that had you blushing madly and whipping your hands across your jeans in reaction.
" It's great to match a face to a name like Soap" You teased, eyes showing recognition to the man detailedly described by Gabby when she would return from deployment for a few drinks. You smile fondly remembering how she couldn't contain her laughter from the stores she would tell.
"Fish was really holding out on a beauty like you, what are you both on the bench for LT?- wait scratch that- what are you even doing here Y/N?" He questioned as he took the other seat beside you; now squished between the two men. One glaring down at your head; still trying to calculate more about you, while the other showed puppy-like intrigue to your presence. You opened your mouth to formulate a reply as another member joined the scene.
" Did I miss a memo in the group-chat again?" Has you questioning if Gabby signed you up for a comedy sketch; your eyes fall on to every security camera stationed in the hall space before meeting the gaze of a base-ball cap covered face that gives you a nod of the head before looking at the two others; awaiting an answer that they all but shrugged to.
Soap introduced you to Gaz as you shook hands with one another, feeling the clauses and a scar running across the back on it. You abruptly dropped your hand, embarrassed for holding the interaction for too long as Gaz cleared his throat, giving his head a quick tilt towards Soap. He shuffled down the bench and patted the empty space, smiling mockingly now and allotting space for the new member in what would look like an almost completed movie poster as the sound of a clock ticking in the background filled the silence you all sat in.
“ Hey Y/N?”
“Yes, Soap?”
“Can I tell you something?”
You nod your head with obvious confusion as to why Gaz appears to be laughing, his shoulder brushing against yours. Looking down the bench, you notice as Ghost shifts his legs and fixes his belt before settling once more.
“ My wife said I should do lunges to stay in shape.”
Your head whips back over as Gaz now grabs your knee, clutching his stomach as concern sprouts. You look over Soap and his left hand to find it empty alongside his neck, overly bewildered that his spouse would make such a comment to his current frame.
“ Umm, why would she only recommend lunges out of all things?”
Tears well up in Soaps eyes as he holds your own, Gaz is now patting your knee in between squeezes, doing his best to return to even breaths. You begin to reach over Gaz’s shoulders to touch Soaps in a move to comfort the man before you are stopped by the punchline.
“ We both thought that it would be…” Soap now bursts into laughter as you hear Ghost wince beside you at the loudness of it. Between laughs he finished the sentence, “a big… step… forward.”
A loud sigh exits your body as you turn your head down, shaking it before you fall over into Gaz- laughing hard as Simon watches the three of you perform like children, smiling to himself underneath the mask.
Catching his breath, Soap begins the conversation once more,“ Please note I don’t actually have a wife, wouldn’t want to cheat on my tough, buff, handsome husband ain’t that right LT?” Soap clarifies, fluttering his eyes as Ghost groans heavily at him, shifting his body away and staring at his watch in an effort to not add fuel to Soap's already burning fire.
Conversation flowed easily through the group after the jokes session, you ended up showing Ghost your cat that he laughed at in the first picture. Swatting his bicep and cursing him for being rude to your baby, your eyes soon lit up in horror to your reactions and you swiftly apologised. The chuckle that the masked man gave you has your heart fluttering in shambles, thankfully restarted by the sounds of hurried footsteps coming around the hallway and soon broke out into a full blown run; heads all snapping over as you stood up quickly and met them in the middle.
" Gills!"
" Dumbass!"
You both hugged, bodies swaying from the force as you both laughed happily in each other's arms. The feeling of multiple pairs of eyes soon breaking through the moment as you looked over Gabby's shoulder to see an older man, smiling at you both from underneath a moustache and boonie cap. You looked to his left to see a smaller woman dressed in office clothing with a tight bun and a smile staring you down as well; eyes sharp but crinkled. You gave them both a small wave before releasing your best friend.
" Please call me Gabby; just for a little bit today- okay? I get enough shit from the boys already demanding to know why fish is my callsign and I just know that they will do their best to work their “magic…” she says while making quotation marks with her fingers, “...on you to spell it out to them, " Gabby whispers to you before wrapping an arm around your shoulders and introducing you properly to Captain Price and Station Chief Laswell.
Firm handshakes they both give has you wincing slightly while retracting your hand and lightly shaking it in the air behind your back before following in tow into the room across the hall.
Taking a seat Between Gabby and Soap, the Captain, Gaz and Laswell sit across from you as Ghost leans against the wall behind you all; observing from afar while subconsciously protecting the door and watching the windows between fixing his gloves; an anxious tick you notice.
Gabby is the first to address the court as she defends your presence in the room today like a well-paid lawyer that has you biting your lip from making the jokes you so desperately want to convey when you are together.
" After a recent few, excuse my French, shitshows of data collecting for my accessing teams here on base, I recommend you Y/N Y/LN. They have prior experience in our operations and can capture a bloody good picture or two that is actually comprehensible for the media..."
Gabby practically reads out your resume to the crowd from memory; you feel your cheeks becoming slightly pink from attention as you slightly fall into the back of your chair in an attempt to hide. You feel Soaps arm move across the back of your chair; his eyes asking yours if you are doing okay, you give back a curt nod and focus your attention back to Gabby.
“ You can interrogate a suspect for all their worth, bring a cartel boss to near tears and slice a mans finger off in front of their wife while hanging their cousin yet for the love of all things- you cannot find it in you to take a full, unobstructed or uncrumpled picture of a desk, phone, fuck! A selfie even! Like c'mon guys- I need something to present to the council!”
You feel your head falling against Soap's tattooed arm, it warms against the back of your neck as your body looks for some form of physical connection to calm yourself from Gabbys rant. Soap makes no motions to move his arm; understanding how you must be feeling from prior experiences as he looks around the room and catches Gabby's eyes; giving her a wink while tilting his head slightly towards your form.
Gabbys' eyes narrow as she continues talking on autopilot that has you pushing your head back upright and moving to stop her rambling; giving the people in a room a chance to breathe through the information she just flung wildly at their heads.
Soap does his best to hide his disappointment in his facial features from your moving away. He notices Price giving him a knowing look before the captain turns his full attention towards you, humming to himself before formulating a statement as you await playing with a loose string from your sweater.
" I remember hearing stories about you as a new recruit and all through your task force, always going that extra bit; that group looked at you as a saving grace... " He trains off, looking for the right words as Gaz picks up the conversation.
" It would be lovely to have you join our team; have another to watch our backs; less work the better, more focused we can be." You see out of the corner of your eye that Ghost nods his head slightly to this as Soap gives you another cheeky grin and opens his mouth to reply yet Gabby beats him to the punch as his face falls and grumbles underneath his breath.
You give his arm a pat in recognition that has his smile returning before turning your attention to Laswell; awaiting her final seal of approval. She looks at you for a long hard while, trying to get you to break as your brain falls into distant memories, your body going stoic and face unmoving.
Your training seeping through your veins once again as Gabby notices this and tries to hide a smirk, thinking to herself, I knew that old self was still in you somewhere.
As Laswell gives a nod of approval your way, Gabby bursts in cheers, placing her arms at each side of your chairs arms and twirling it so that you face her head on as she says, " glad to have you back, Dice."
And that very call sign called fourth a past self within you that smiled sadly in recognition.