Chapter Text
The three men sat at the round table, waiting for their captain to show up for their meeting. Each one had a drink in front of them, each with a slightly different substance in it, each of it containing caffeine. The one with the mask had a mug of earl grey tea with one cube of sugar; the Scotsman had straight black coffee; the caramel-colored brit had a sixteen-ounce sugar free red bull sitting on top of a napkin, so it did not sweat onto the table. They had a slight idea about what this meeting was about—new recruits. They absolutely hated when the still wet behind the ears recruits were allowed to move into the barracks.
Ghost secretly enjoyed it. He often scared them with his skull plate and balaclava. He believed that fear was healthy. Kept them in line. Reminded they were here to do a job, not at sleep away camp.
Soap openly hated it because they stole all the good snacks from the rec room and were always playing on the video game console whenever he wanted to play.
Gaz was more indifferent about it. If the new recruits proved themselves good enough, maybe they would not have to work as hard all the time.
The older masked man had recently done some shopping; his two newest addition to his collection was a tan cape and black gaiter. There had been some solo missions he was sent on where his balaclava was ripped to shit, and he had to improvise with tying half a t-shirt around his nose until returning safely to base. He secretly felt like the updated look gave him an even scarier appearance. He had also been waiting to hear back from Price about an approval for a request he made. He believed it would help everyone, but he was starting to get impatient. Soon, he was going to ask for forgiveness and fuck the permission.
The door opened, and Price walked in. He had marks on his neck that married his slight limp in his step. He was also extremely disheveled and smelled heavily of a Russian cigar. The masked man raised an eyebrow; the Scotsman spat his drink out; the man in the baseball cap had to cough to cover up a laugh.
Price glared at the three of them, “What?”
Ghost ran a gloved finger down his own neck to motion to the captain that he had been caught red handed. Price tried to fight the blush that creeped up his neck.
“Bloody hell Capt,” Gaz muttered, handing Soap a napkin from his pocket. Mister-Always-Prepared.
“Wha is th' jammy body?” Soap asked, cleaning up his mess.
“You know MacTavish, English is a beautiful language,” Ghost teased, “You should speak it more often.”
“Oh, piss off Ghost,” Soap replied, “It’s too early for your smartass remarks.”
“Soap, I promise you were not saying that this morning,” Kyle retorted taking a sip of his redbull.
Soap turned bright red, “'n' howfur th' hell dae ye ken that?”
“English,” Ghost muttered, taking a sip of his tea.
“Remember, I share a fucking wall with you,” Kyle mutter, rolling his eyes, “a paper-thin wall.”
“How did this become shitting on Soap? Price is the one with hickeys on his neck!” Soap cried out, attempting to act fake hurt.
Price sighed, putting his hands on his hips, “You guys have sex. Is it against the law for me to have sex?”
Soap gagged, “That’s like when yer maw 'n' da would kiss in front of you as a child.”
Ghost rolled his eyes, “Price, as long as you’re happy and safe, that’s all I care about.”
“Thank you, Ghost,” Price replied, slightly caught off guard, “Looks like someone updated his wardrobe.”
The masked man shrugged, “Figured it was time since we are due for new recruits.”
“Ah yes, the real reason I call the meeting,” Price said, sitting down at the empty chair at the table, “And not to talk about my sex life.” He sent a glare in Soap’s direction. Gaz had to refrain himself from laughing.
Price started the meeting that the new recruits would start moving into the barracks tonight and would be ready for training for the next morning. He explained that these new recruits were the top of their class and handpicked by their instructors; he reminded the three men sitting in front of him that they had also been in their shoes.
“Ghost, you will lead tomorrow’s training session,” Price said as a wrap-up for the meeting, “Try not to kill them.”
Ghost chuckled, “But that takes all the fun out of it.”
“You are so twisted,” Gaz commented as he stood from the table.
Soap followed suit, knowing that his friend was going to get breakfast. The younger man turned to the masked man, who waved him to go on without him. He was hopeful that Price would have an answer for him. Once the two younger members left the room and the door had swung shut, Price cleared his throat to get Ghost’s attention.
“Also,” Price said, a smile on his face, “Your request was approved.”
Ghost could not help but smile, “Shit? Seriously?”
“Yup,” Price replied, “I agree. I think it will… help.”
“Thank you, Capt., I’ll handle it today,” Ghost replied.
“Good man,” Price nodded, “You are free to go.”
Ghost nodded, standing from his seat, and leaving the room. He was almost giddy at the thought that his request was approved. He normally would have never asked for something like this. Fuck, Ghost never asked for anything.
He wanted to handle this before Price changed his mind. He hurried over to his barracks room to pick up his truck keys and his wallet. He decided to change out of his usual clothes, and tone it down to something more casual since he would be stepping into the civilian world. Last thing he needed was to show up on social media for the way he dressed. He settled on a half face mask and a simple black hoodie.
He sent Soap a text:
He pocketed his phone before Soap could come find him and ask to come along with. This was going to be a surprise for everyone.
He made sure to take a different route to the parking lot that the one that would overlap on the route that Soap and Gaz would take to walk from the mess hall to the barracks. Under different circumstances, he would have invited them with, but for once in his life he wanted to play the hero.
They had all been through so much in the past six months. From loosing Alex (That Gaz secretly took much harder than anyone knew about until a night out at a pub), and then the bullshit that was the last mission. From being betrayed by Graves in Las Almas and Soap almost falling to his death to Soap actually laying in his deathbed—It was enough. Even Laswell was still struggling with what she entailed; she was constantly on high alert and never allowed anyone besides Price to stand behind her. Soap was still working with physical therapy to rehab his shoulder; he had made great improvements, but his shoulder still hurt from time to time. The therapist said that would go away, but when you are as impatient as Soap, even minute felt like a year.
Ghost loaded into his truck and pulled out of his spot. He flipped through the channels until he found some 2000s rock he settled on. The drive to his surprise was about half an hour away. He relaxed into the driver’s seat, pressing on the gas a little bit more. He made it to the shop without any problems and pulled into a parking spot. As he turned off the truck, he felt a slight anxiety start to build in his chest. He felt like he mislabeled the feeling—it was anticipation. What if the crew didn’t like the surprise? He would be absolutely crushed.
He pushed the thought from his head. If anyone did not like it, they would not say it to his face. They were all to scared of him anyways.
He made his way out of the truck and into the store. A cute young girl appeared behind the counter. She had her thick red hair pulled back into a lose braid. Her glasses looked a size too big for her face, but she smiled at the tall man standing in front of her.
“Hi, welcome to the rescue,” She said, “How can I help you?”
“I am interested in adopting a dog,” He replied.
“Oh! Yes! Follow me,” She replied.
She moved from her spot behind the counter and showed him to the dog section. There were several dogs that were put up for adoption, but one caught Ghost’s eye almost immediately. You could see that the dog had recently just been given up as they looked absolutely terrified. They hugged the back of the cage and did not make eye contact when Ghost stopped in front of their encloser. Ghost empathized with the animal, remembering how it felt to be like that.
Then, he found Soap and he let love into his life. That’s when everything changed.
“Are you interested in Riley?” The younger girl asked softly, “She was just brought in. She’s a pure bread German Shepard, she is gorgeous. Quite the lover girl.”
“Why was she given up?” Ghost asked, squatting down to be more on the animal’s level. He wanted to show her that she did not need to be afraid of him.
“Something about the family having a new baby and did not want to risk it,” The girl said softly, “It absolutely broke my heart when her family dropped her off.”
“I’ll take her,” Ghost said without a second thought.
“Alright, let’s get her collar and leash on. Then we can fill out some paperwork,” The younger girl said, moving to a separate area.
“Don’t worry girl, you won’t ever feel that again,” Ghost whispered to her, “I’ll keep you safe.”
The young girl came back around and opened the cage. She handed the collar and leash to Ghost.
“You have to put it on. It shows them that they are going with you,” She informed him.
Ghost nodded. He kneeled in front of the scared German Shepard. This animal could rip his throat out right here if she truly wanted too. He stuck his hand out for her to sniff it. She slowly moved towards him, trying to decide if he was friend or foe. When she decided he was a friend, she licked his hand and allowed him to pet her. He put her collar on her and then her leash. As he stood, she took her spot on his left, immediately falling into her heel command without Ghost having to give it. He turned to see the young girl wiping away tears with a big smile on her face.
“Thank you,” She murmured, “I was so concerned no one would ever take her. Or they would take her and use her in a dog fight.”
Ghost frowned, “No. She is going to a much better place. She is going to get so much love and attention. I promise.”
“C’mon, we just have some paperwork to fill out then you guys can go,” The young girl said.
Ghost followed her to the counter, Riley stayed in her heel command. The masked man was already head over heels for this dog and he had barely made it out the door with her. He signed the required paperwork that was needed for the rescue and paid in cash for her. The young girl also gave Ghost her water and food bowl, as well as the food she had been eating at the rescue. She also gave him a brush and informed him that she would need to be brushed two times a day to keep her coat from matting.
Before he left, the young girl stopped him.
“Uh, usually we take a polaroid photo of the new family,” She said, “Would you like one?”
Ghost hesitated. He normally did not like photos of himself, but this seemed like a situation where it would be okay to take one.
Plus, he knew Soap would want to hang this one up.
“Sure,” He replied.
He kneeled next to Riley and put his arm around her. He smiled behind his mask as she took the opportunity to lick Ghost’s face in the moment that the young girl snapped the photo. The young girl handed Ghost the undeveloped photo before wishing them well.
Ghost led Riley out of the rescue and to the truck. He opened the passenger side and before he could give her the command to load up, she was gracefully jumping into the truck. He put her stuff on the bottom of the truck. He smiled at the dog before he carefully shut the door. He walked around to the driver side of the door and loaded up. He started the truck and began the drive home.
He carefully pulled into his parking spot, not wanting to scare Riley. She seemed nervous at this new location, which was expected. He pets her head gently.
“Welcome home, Riley,” He said to her, “You will love it here.”
He got out of the driver’s seat and went around to the passenger seat. He allowed Riley to unload before grabbing her stuff from the floor. She went potty before they started the walk back into the base. As they walked she immediately took her spot on Ghost’s left.
He sent Soap another message:
He also sent Price a message:
As they moved through the base, he allowed her to stop and smell whatever she wanted. This was going to be her new home. She needed to be comfortable. He could hear Soap, Gaz, and Price talking in the courtyard.
“C’mon girl, come meet the rest of your family,” he said, gently tugging on her collar to direct her.
Gaz was the first to notice them, “Is that Ghost with a dog?”
Price laughed, “Yes, it is. Everyone, meet Riley.”
She looked to Ghost for permission to greet the three men standing in front of them. He nodded and she approached each of them slowly. Ghost noticed that Soap was slightly uncomfortable at the sight of the dog. He was cautious when he stuck his hand out for her to smell. She immediately took to the Scottish man, wanting to play with him. He laughed at her, starting to relax.
“After everything we have been through,” Ghost said, “I thought she would help. And I think we can help her. She just needs some extra love.”
Soap smiled at his lover, “Yeah, she seems cool. How about we get her moved in?”
Gaz also smiled, “We are going to need to get her toys! And a tactical vest!”
“Already taken care of. We just need to get a patch that says Riley,” Price said, “Gaz, how about you help me collect it from my office?”
The Scotsman stepped over to the taller masked man and took the bag of food from his arms. They linked hands and Ghost whistled for Riley to follow them. She took her official position on Ghost’s left side.
Ghost smiled behind his mask.
Maybe good things could happen to him.