A/N: Whatever it is you're expecting from this chapter, stop expecting it, because that's not what you're going to get. This one is shiny and pretty and bright and colorful. Coarseness and rudeness kept to a severe minimum here, because that's how I roll. Author's note at the end, just a matter of opinion. GHOST'S REVENGE WILL BE THE NEXT CHAPTER. FOLLOWING THAT WILL BE ONE ADDITIONAL DELETED SCENE COMPOSED OF LITTLE DRABBLE-LIKE CONCEPTS I COULDN'T WORK INTO THE STORY. Hope you guys are ready for idiocy. :D
Anon: I'm glad I could help you out. :D And it looks like the next chapter is going to be the "Ghost's Revenge" deleted scene. ;D
xGhostxStealth: Eh. You're not a bad person. People get forgetful. Like me. If I don't forget and/or lose something at least once a day, it's a damned miracle. XD With all of my brothers being in the military, we've played Halo and Modern Warfare together a lot. It doesn't help them that much. Unless you're talking about the games where you actually have the gun controller, like the House Of The Dead or Time Crisis arcade games. One of my brothers in the Marines kicked my ass at Time Crisis 3. Without trying. And his response to my anger was just, "Every man a rifleman. Now put another fucking dollar in the machine." And it looks like "Ghosts Revenge" is going to be posted here, but I'm cooking up something special for XDCU. ;)
FuriousPanda: Hey, Zoidberg has his merits... XD Deleted scene coming up next. :D
TheBleeding: By "this kind of story" do you mean slash or just MW2 fanfiction in general? Either way, I'm glad you enjoy what I write. And yes, those lyrics were from "This Is Not The End". The Bravery is one of my favorite bands and that song was stuck in my head. XD As soon as I can figure out how I want to go about it, I'm going to cover Stray's back story. :P
Jane Kid McAnders: I love Soap with Soap's voice. XD I've just got this thing for accents in general. And foreign languages. I'm just really strange. XD And I'm beginning to notice a lot of "Stray Fans" popping up... I didn't realize he'd be so wildly popular. o_o
xStealthxSniperx: I love Cabin Fever. Both of them. I'm a HUGE fan of horror movies. I always have been. I think it started when I was a kid and I saw Tim Burton's "Sleepy Hollow" with Johnny Depp and that was when I really started liking the whole creepy feel of horror films and the blood and the gore. Maybe I'm just twisted. XD Yes. The fire was going. It was actually kinda funny. No one was seriously injured at that party, but we did have one kid get really, really wasted that I had to nurse back to being able to remember his own name. Forever the designated sober person... Haha. Deleted scene it shall be! And, just a curious question, if Soap/Ghost isn't your favorite, who is? (I'm a very curious person :P) And don't worry about getting off topic. I'm REALLY ADHD so it doesn't bother me because I do it all the time. XD
Arhani Daforcena: You're welcome, love. :D
Reeserella: Thank you dear. :D Simon is definitely getting his revenge. It's just plain cruel to put him through that and leave him with no way to get even! Haha.
GranBoy: It's only sad for you to spazz out over a new chapter if it's also sad for me to spazz out when I get a review. XD You've nothing to apologize for, as far as I'm concerned. :P Simon's revenge is going to be very interesting. Believe it or not, I actually drew a touch of inspiration from a dream I had a few nights ago. XD I'm not all that worried about sophistication, and it just seemed so like Ghost to take a serious moment like that and accidentally fuck it up by talking so much. XD
Ameij: For you dear, Revenge of The Ghost is next. :D
CamoGirl69: Deleted Scene coming up next. Thanks for all the love.
"It's just a shame we can't hang out more often." Kira frowned.
Two months had flown by like it was nothing, passed mostly in a haze of marijuana smoke, a watery lens of alcohol, and a whirlwind of sexual ecstasy. Kira hugged her twin brother tightly, trying to avoid crying into his shoulder. She wished he'd been given more time off, considering the past few years of his life had passed in a haze of shell-shock, a watery lens of blood loss, and a whirlwind of explosions. Soap hugged his sister just as tightly as she held him and he almost wished that he had chosen a less demanding line of work.
"Come on, John." Simon sighed. Their flight had been called. It was time for them to board and get the hell out of there.
MacTavish kissed his sister's forehead one last time and told Alastair that if he ever did anything to hurt his sister, he would magically vanish, but only after a minimum of 48 continuous hours of pain and torture. Riley back the statement up with a glacial glare and a devious grin of his own. Alastair tried laughing it off, but he'd seen how these guys joked around and how that tended to lead to cracked ribs and bruises, and they weren't phased by it. Alastair had personally broken a single finger and that had nearly killed him. He didn't even want to imagine what it felt like to be shot six times and dash across rooftops, dodging explosives and enemy gun fire.
John turned away from his sister, shouldered his bag, and started walking towards his boarding gate. Simon patted his shoulder and told him that he didn't need to worry about Kira, that she was more than capable of taking care of herself and keeping Alastair's scrawny ass in check. John just nodded. He was so involved in his conversation with Simon that he didn't hear Kira calling him until she screamed, "Goddammit! Soap!"
He stopped and turned and the girl ran towards him, her right hand outstretched. There was a thin silvery cord wrapped around her fingers and John recognized it immediately. His hand flew up to his neck and he realized they were his dog tags. Kira pressed them into his hand and said, "Don't ever make me call you by that damnable call-sign again, you hear me?" He nodded and hugged her again.
"Stay safe out there, and keep your head down. That goes for every damn one of you bastards, got it?" She growled. Everyone nodded. They weren't entirely sure crossing her would be safer than crossing her brother.
"Good. Have fun saving the world and blowing shit up." Kira grinned before skipping back to Alastair.
"Your call-sign is Soap?" Gary asked.
John just nodded.
"How'd you end up with that?" Stray asked.
"Long story." MacTavish muttered.
"Obsessive Compulsive Disorder." Simon piped up.
"Fucker." John muttered.
"Yeah, that makes sense." Alex shrugged.
They weren't edgy on the plane ride home; they weren't shooting death glares at each other or lacing their conversation with poisonous words and dark threats. Gary and Alex sat next to each other and very discretely held hands while they spoke quietly over things that didn't make sense to anyone else. Brandon and Eric were discussing the differences between movies based on video games and video games based on movies and which ones were worse. John and Simon were placing bets on if Alastair was really the one who would end up shoving Kira in a white dress and forcing her to settle down.
There was no one waiting for them when their plane landed, not that they were surprised. They had their cars parked in the long-term parking and were more than happy to finally be back to the familiarity of their own surroundings. It was a surprisingly beautiful day outside; it was the perfect temperature, the sky was a brilliant blue that was blemished only occasionally by puffy white clouds.
"Smells like sunshine." Royce sighed. He'd rolled the windows in his lover's car down and was smiling into the wind.
"High again?" Archer asked with a smile.
"Just enjoying the way things are." Brandon grinned. Eric decided to be completely out of character and steal a quick kiss from his comrade when they came to a stop at a cherry-red light. Royce smiled against his lips and they both decided life was good for the moment.
Roach watched Stray's lips move along with the lyrics to a song flowing softly from the radio, a faint smile on his lips.
"'M not botherin' you, am I?" Stray asked, finally catching his lingering gaze.
"Not at all. I like listening to you sing."
"Liar."
"Never." Gary took Alex's right hand off the wheel and laced their fingers. He didn't care that the gesture seemed girly or stupid; he felt like holding his lover's hand and by God he was going to do it. His smile grew a bit when he felt the foreigner squeeze his hand.
For once, Soap's mind wasn't on reports or missions or intel. He was contemplating what he wanted for dinner, struggling to decide if he wanted to exploit his hidden talent of actually being able to cook or just going to the Chinese restaurant he and Simon favored that was very conveniently located around the corner from their apartment. He glanced over to the passenger's seat where Ghost had finally succumbed to the sleep his insomnia so often led him away from. The light skipped over the Lieutenant's face and his longer-than-regulation hair. John smiled. Simon had been sleeping more since their leave had started. He didn't look quite so exhausted and his blue eyes weren't dulled by sleeplessness and they were no longer underlined by dark rings of purple. With the faint smile still lingering on his face, he looked back towards the road. The time away was time well-spent.
"Wanna catch a movie tonight?" Stray asked.
"Hell yes." Roach grinned.
"You know, I wouldn't be opposed to you staying at my place for a bit." Archer murmured a bit awkwardly.
"I don't think I'd mind the change of scenery either. My apartment kinda sucks." Royce laughed.
"Whether you can cook or not isn't up for debate now, is it? I feel like eating cheap Chinese food and that's final." Ghost insisted.
"Cheap Chinese food it is." Soap smiled.
It seemed the surreal happiness remaining after their time away seemed to stick with them even after they'd returned to the base and started back in on their work.
"Guess who took home a cute chick every weekend for two months." Meat leered.
"Guess who spent every night for the past two months having the most amazing sex known to man without having to worry about forgetting a girl's name or bother turning an unwanted, disease-riddled hooker out in the morning." Archer returned mildly. Meet's grin fell from his face with startling speed and he stormed away.
"What did you tell him?" Royce asked with a lazy gesture as he walked into the office. He had a notebook in one hand and a pencil in the other and he seemed rather preoccupied.
"The truth."
"That you're madly in love with me?" Brandon teased, having caught the tail end of the conversation.
"With a few more words, sure." Eric smiled softly. Rather than stumble over his words, Royce instead chose the more dignified option of just blushing and going back to scribbling something in a notebook.
"Well if it isn't the little Cockroach!" Worm beamed. Roach knew that smile and knew that it meant bad news for him.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"What did the five fingers say to the face?" Worm asked innocently.
"Fuck you." Stray said casually as he slapped the would-be offender. He'd been passing through the halls on his way to find his lover and happened to save him from a particularly mean punchline. Worm held one side of his face and accused Stray of ruining his joke. Stray just shrugged it off and lit a cigarette.
"When'd you start smoking?" Ozone demanded.
"When'd you start caring?" Stray retorted.
"What crawled up your ass and died?" Ozone muttered.
"I could ask you the same question, but I know the real problem is that someone spent their entire leave in the bottom of a bottle of cheap booze with a distinct inability to get laid due to their lack of people skills. And by 'someone' I mean you." Alex continued.
"Man, fuck you!" Ozone yelled.
"That would be my job." Roach said casually. Ozone and Worm regarded both of them with incredulity before sputtering some sort of nonsensical reason to get out of there.
"Well that was bold." Alex laughed as the other two departed.
"Would you rather me say nothing so you can come to my rescue again next time?" Gary asked innocently.
"Maybe. If only so I can play the hero." Alex stepped forward and kissed him gently. Sanderson wrapped his arms around his lover's neck.
"Now, I bought tickets for the showing at 1630, but if you'd rather continue this snogging session, I can always re-purchase the tickets for a later date." Stray murmured, waving a slip of paper about.
"Movies first, then snogging." Roach chuckled.
"So this is what being domestic feels like." Ghost sighed. Their Chinese take-away cartons sat on the table, surrounded by packets of empty soy and duck sauce, there was a movie playing on the TV, and they were rather completely entangled with one another on the couch. John lowered his face a touch and lightly kissed the side of his lover's neck. Riley made a pleased little noise and nestled closer against his Captain, feeling very content with a silly movie flickering across the screen and the solidity of Soap pressed to his back.
"You ever wonder what we'd be like if we'd chosen a different line of work?" Simon asked. He reached for his beer sitting on the edge of the coffee table and brought the bottle to his lips.
"I'm pretty sure I'd be working construction for Kira. Maybe you'd still be working that desk job." John chuckled.
"Jealous of how I look in a suit?"
"Simon, I don't think I've ever seen you in a suit." John took the beer bottle from Ghost's hand and took a sip himself before passing it back so it could be set on the table once more.
"That could always change."
"Let's hope it does soon." Soap nuzzled the Brit's neck and Simon closed his eyes.
"You going back to sleep?"
"Some of us have problems sleeping, so we take every chance we can get." Ghost huffed.
"Then I think we should at least move you to the bedroom. You fall asleep out here, you're going to spend all day tomorrow whining about how much your back hurts."
Gary rested his head on Alex's chest and listened to the steady thudding of the European's heart. He buried his face in the soft, standard-issue green fabric of Stray's shirt and breathed deeply.
"You alright over there?" Stray asked with a laugh."
"You smell good." Roach huffed indignantly.
"I try my best."
"Who you trying to impress?"
"You." Stray shrugged.
"You don't have to impress me. You already got me."
"Don't mean nothin'. I gotta do everything I can to keep you now. And that means exploiting that delicate sense of smell you have."
"You're so sarcastic! What did I ever see in you?" Gary feigned incredulity and hurt.
"The fact that I love you?"
Sanderson didn't say anything for a long moment. He eventually raised his head and looked up at Sergeant Kennedy.
"D'you mean that?"
"Mean what? That I love ya? 'Course I do," Stray murmured as he kissed his lover's forehead before he said, "Now, close those hazel eyes of yours and get some sleep while we still got the chance."
"So why'd you never settle down before now?" Royce asked.
"Never saw the need to. Never had the desire to. Never found anyone who could understand why I can't bring myself to say I'm attached. 'Specially in my line of work." Archer mumbled.
"Makes sense to me."
"Don't make none to me. Just trying to figure out why I didn't give in and give you a chance sooner than this."
"'Cause every damn body in the 141 is a stubborn bastard. Practically prerequisite."
"Doesn't change nothin'."
"Don't be so hard on your self, man. It's no big deal."
"'Sept it is. I'm actin' like the same automaton my dad was, and I hated it. And since you already got me on one of these stupid little tangents, I think I've come to the conclusion that I'm just gonna stick to sleeping with you, and I don't think I want you sleepin' 'round no more either."
"Don't look now, Arch, but I think you just agreed to be in a committed relationship. And I think I just agreed." Royce smiled.
"Good."
The change in the team dynamic within the Task Force was subtle, but still noticeable. Those six members that had traveled away and spent time on a near-deserted island were calmer, they were more content to sit in silence and watch the clouds or watch a bird hop around outside. They spent more time off-base and out of the pubs. They were more human than they had ever seemed before.
"I think it's because we were actually able to do what we wanted to do, not what we felt we needed to do." Roach shrugged.
"Maybe it's because we were actually able to sit around, drink, smoke, and fuck and not worry about repercussions." Archer countered.
"Those are kind of the same thing, but it still doesn't matter one way or the other. Simple fact is life is good. Let's try to avoid fucking this sublime happiness by thinking too much." Stray said.
"Damn. I want pudding." Royce frowned.
There was a collective moment of silence before everyone started to laugh. Royce rolled his eyes, but continued reclining in the grass and staring up at the sky. He closed his eyes and let the sunshine play over his skin. It felt divine. He sighed and smiled when he felt Archer sit close to him. Royce was lazily sprawled on his back with Archer sitting close by, Roach and Stray were stretched out on their stomachs, prodding a beetle along across a random and arbitrary path. Soap and Ghost were sitting on a blanket cleaning hand guns and talking quietly about something of no consequence. It was just a beautiful day that Meat and Ozone and Worm and Chemo were wasting inside, griping about things that didn't matter at the moment and wouldn't matter in the future.
"Kinda weird how two months of free time can wake you up more than a few years of near death experiences." Stray smiled.
"Not really. Near death experiences leave just enough room for praying you live. Living the life leaves you with enough time to pray to understand it." Royce said.
There was another moment of stunned silence.
"How do you do that?" Roach demanded.
"Do what?" Royce asked.
"Just... You go from talking about pudding to coming out with this awesome philosophical stuff and it's just... How do you switch gears like that?" Roach asked.
"Practice, dude." Brandon smiled.
It seemed that this new calm after the leave time was something as unshakable. It was a strange new constant. It seemed there was nothing that could ruin them, could ruin their serenity.
John shrugged out of his jacket and threw it across the back of one of the chairs in the living room. It had been rather a long day, rather boring and infuriating, but not the worst he'd ever endured. It certainly didn't feel like it had already been a month and a half since their leave spent with Kira...
"Simon?" He called. He could have sworn the Lieutenant was at the apartment already, but there was no sign of him.
"Back here." Ghost called.
Soap wandered towards the back of the apartment, towards the bedroom and he paused in the doorway, a bit stunned at the sudden reminder of their island time that was sitting on the edge of the bed. Simon was all dressed up in a black suit with a dark red button-up shirt under the blazer and a red- and black-striped tie.
"Figured we could finish that conversation we started at your sister's." Riley winked.
Things had changed, and nothing would ever be the same. But there wasn't really anything wrong with that.