Usually, somebody who was thrown at by a grenade, fell off a hundrets of meter high building, bleeding all over the battlefield and beeing dragged by his comrade to somewhere safe only to be greeted by his nearly hysterical captain would be relieved to wake up without the agonizing, burning pain, but John knew he should be in a great amount of said pain. Was he dreamig? In a coma? He lifted his right arm, pinched himself in his side and was rewarded with a sting- albeit nothing compared to what he felt back at the battlefield- and his whole body tensed.
He knew he was in no hospital, he couldnt smell the biting sterilium or hear the beeping heart monitor he sure as hell should be connected to. He wasn´t dreaming either, that was for sure.
He slowly opened his eyes, half expecting price staring at him, but was greeted by blue. Soap looked up into the sky, he used to gaze at the clouds with ghost and roach when they werent on a mission or training. Ghost and Roach.
A wave of grief threatened to let him suffocate, but he pushed it away. He could think about his lieutenant and seargent when he figured out where he was.
John pushed himself up, first onto his knees, then into a standing position. He looked around and surveyed his surroundings. His breath hitched in his throat when he recognized where he was.
No bloody way.
He was infront of a bar. It was the bar they used to visit whenever they had to celebrate something. The first time he was drunk into subvision was here. He remembered it all too good...
,, Come on, rookie. I bet you cant last a few drinks'', His lieutenant said back then.
,,I dont think this is a good idea'', he replied. Man was he young .
,,Come on, dont chicken out on me now!''.
The morning after the whole incident, he woke up to laughter all around him. Later the day, after he collected his clothes from the ground where he must have left them after he stripped infront of the whole rookie 141, showered to get rid of his killer- headache and was the number one topic everybody talked about, he had to walk through the whole HQ to destroy every pic of him from said night. His Captain, having pity with him, helped him. It was good he was Price´s favorit.
By now Soap figured out why he was here. He was dead. He remembered the pain, the coldniss, the darkness at the edge of his vision, Price´s frantic shouts. He even remembered beeing called `son´ bei him. Price only once callem him that , after their deaths. After he was told Ghost and roach where killed by Shepard, a men he trusted, he broke down. Price was the one who went to his apartment after nobody saw him for days. He was the one who took him into his arms when he sat crying in the corner of his living room, he was the one who threw away the whiskey bottles, and who bandaged the many self inflicted cuts on his arms. Price was the one who caught him when he fell and helped him to continue his life, and now he left him alone.
John didnt even want to think about how his Captain was feeling now.
He looked up again, and saw light flittering through the curtains. Thats new.
Soap went forwards a few steps, but stumbled upon something. He looked down and saw a balaclava. He reached for it and held it infront of his face. Printed on the balaclava was a skull.
Ghost.
When Ghost joined his team, he wasnt very fond of him. The brit was always so introvert, and never seemed to feel anything. When they first met, he suggested they go get a drink. He tried to get Ghost drunk so he would talk about himself. It didnt bode well.
,,Hey Ghost, i ask you something, and you answer it. If i like your answer i let you ask me something. What do you think?''.
,,Sure. Rules?'', Ghost asked me.
,,None. I start. Where are you from?''.
,,You know where i am from. You red my file'', hedead-panned. He was way too serious back then.
,,You got me there. Do you have hobbys?''.
He didnt even answer me.
,,I like to draw,you know. I have a journey, if you want you can see it''.
He didnt react for a few minutes until... ,, Listen, Captain. I am not going to talk about me. If you only suggested to go here to spy on me, then I´ll go now. Unless you want to say something?''. I was too stunned to answer. ,,Thought so'', the Brit said and left the bar.
After that the both of them had a rather shaky relationship. They only talked if they had to, and even then their conversations were short, but after they safed themselfes their asses multiple times, and Ghost realised he doesnt have to be all alone and Soap realised thats just how Ghost is, they befriend each other.
After every Mission, success or not, they went to this bar to celebrate a victory or mourn the fallen.
Soap held the balaclava in his hand and took a few steps more in the direction of the bar, when suddenly something cracked under his shoe. He took a step backwards and where his foot was placed mere seconds ago, was now a cockroach.
A hot and salty tear fell down Johns cheek.
,,Hey, Sanderson. How is your wound?'', it was Roachs first mission, and he was shot in his stomach.
,,I am fine, had worse. Its seems that i am the only one who gets injured every mission, but somehow survives'',
,, I red your file and , to be honest, i´ve never seen a seargent who sustained that many injuries.'', Soap said smirking.
,,Well, its like i run over the battlefield with a big, red sign that says ´Shoot me´.''.
,,You are like a cockroach, you cant seem to die'', Ghost said.
,,I like that. Roach. What do you think, Sanderson?''.
,,It sure as hell fits''.
Since then everybody called him Roach. He got injured again and again by enemies, but in the end it was its own what killed the Roach.
Soap jerked out of his thoughts and placed the balaclava next to the cockroach´s corp. He stood up again, not even bothering to whipe away the tears. He knew there would be more. When John looked in the direction of the bar again he saw there were no curtains anymore. He was able to see two silhouettes sitting next to each other, laughing.
He nearly ran to the door and jerked it open. What he saw let thim start crying all over again.
,,Bloody hell'', he whispered, but it was loud enough , because the two persons sitting at the bar turned around. They looked at each other, shocked. After a few seconds, Soap went forward and slung his arms around the two of them.
,,Sorry I let you wait so long, mates'', he whispered.
Now he just had to wait for Price, and his family will be whole again
Hey guys, this is my first ff and i hope you dont mind me really horrible english, i am from Germany. If you liked this please let me know in a review :D .