#i want to [redacted] alex keller | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ghosty-dot-com · 9 months

Text

MIDNIGHT | Alex x OC

TIMELINE: takes place three months after MW 2019

*this thing is LONG so have fun!*

_______+_______

Eden walked up the stairs of the apartment building, exhaustion taking over her as her heavy military boots thudded against them. She had her jacket slung over her shoulder and her hair was messier than when she had left her apartment.

As she trudged down the hallway, her neighbor--an older man named Hank--stepped out of his apartment. He was dressed in an old sweatshirt, black pants, and wore a pair of Hey Dude shoes.

"Late night?" He asked and Eden nodded, chuckling a little.

"Just got back from deployment." Eden said with a tired sigh. "Figured I'd reward myself with boiled ramen and a warm shower."

Hank gave her look before straightening up, Eden knowing exactly what he was planning.

Since she had met her veteran neighbor, he always treated her like a daughter. Eden knew his kids never paid him any visits, and when they did, they only wanted things from him. She hated seeing his greedy, selfish children do that, and Eden always made him something to give after they would leave.

Having Hank filled the emptiness Eden felt whenever she missed her godfather, John Price. She herself didn't have parents and even now as she stood in front of Hank who sifted through his wallet, she wanted to cry from how thoughtful he was.

This deployment had been rough. She lost friends...she lost Alex.

Alex... The thought of him almost brought her to tears, but she wasn't going to cry in front of the older man in front of her. He didn't need to hear about what she experienced there nor did he need to see her finally break from the grief she felt.

"How about this, kid," Hank said as he patted her on the shoulder. "If you're free right now and willing to do so, would you like to come with me to get something to eat?"

While Eden wanted to go into her apartment, shower, then cry herself to sleep, she pocketed her keys and pulled on her jacket.

"Lead the way."

_______________________

Eden slurped the ramen noodles down like it was the first thing she had eaten in days. She didn't care about how desperate she looked or how messy it was. The flavors made her hum in satisfaction as she leaned back in her chair and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

"This is the best thing I've eaten in months." Eden said with a chuckle when she saw Hank watching her with an amused grin on his face. "All I ate were rations or the nasty freeze dried food."

Hank chuckled. "Well, I'm glad to have my daughter-neighbor back. I missed our battle storytelling."

Eden chuckled, nodding her head as they went into a comfortable silence. She stared at the TV playing a Japanese drama and read the subtitles underneath. She stirred her broth with the spoon she used as her mind started to drift off to think about Alex.

She almost started to cry when the memory of that kiss he gave her before he went with Farah made her jaw tighten to keep herself together. She couldn't cry. Not in front of Hank and not in the middle of a Japanese restaurant. His last words to her repeated themselves in her mind over and over again.

I won't be late this time. I promise...

Eden turned back to her broth and started to drink it with her spoon. She wanted to have him there with her--wanted to kiss him again and go on a proper date this time rather than be on a battlefield killing people.

Dating comrades was a big no-no, but Eden didn't care. All she wanted was him, but now he's gone...and he's never coming back...

"I know that look." Hank spoke as he looked at her. "I see it in all the veterans I counsel."

"What?"

"Who was your battle buddy?"

Eden shook her head, biting the inside of her cheek as she resisted the urge to sob.

"I don't want to put this all on you, Hank. You brought me with you to celebrate my return from deployment. Not to give an off-record therapy session."

"You're my friend." Hank said softly yet firmly. "You're young, and you've seen horrors even I probably can't imagine, and I want to help anyway I can."

Eden gave him a sad smile as she wiped her eyes. She glanced to the other people around who either ate in silence or had quiet conversations.

"Well...uh, I saw my godfather when I was deployed. Haven't seen him in years so it was nice. Met some new people, became friends..."

Could she even talk about Alex without crying like she did on the drive home? Could she keep her cool in the restaurant full of people as she recounted his death?

"My battle buddy was Alex Keller." She said, her voice slightly wavering as she put her hands in her lap and leaned back in her chair. "He, uh, died nobly. Sacrificed himself to save all of us and destroy a weapon. I can't go into detail about it, but—"

"You watched him die." Hank spoke solemnly as he leaned forward. "I know the feeling."

Eden looked at him, curiosity pricking in her mind as she watched him exhale deeply. He looked at his hands, shrugging his shoulders and shifting in his seat.

"We called her Rainer. Name was Uma Wilkins. She was our combat medic and the one who saved our asses half the time."

"What happened?"

Hank went silent for a moment before he answered.

"A bullet found its home in her skull. To this day, I still feel pieces of her splattered on my face and stuck in my hair even though I am in the safety of my home."

"I'm sorry." Eden said softly as she wiped her eyes. "Guess the world hasn't been so kind to us in awhile huh?"

"You could say that, but how I see it is that God gave you the life he did so you can save others from it. You save lives and protect those who could be effected by war. To others, you're a hero. And to Alex, you were most definitely worth every sacrifice he could have made. He protected you, and he protected his comrades."

Eden gave him a smile, tears flooding her eyes but she wiped them away before she even gave herself a chance to cry.

"The last thing he said to me was he wouldn't be late." She laughed a little, tears continuing to stream down her face as she looked at her hands. "It was a joke about how he was always late to friend outings and whatnot, but he told me he would meet me with a couple others... Promised he wouldn't be late to meet there."

Eden remembered seeing Farah's saddened gaze when she had asked about him. She could never forget about it, and everyday she thinks about the kiss he gave her before he died. It was so soft...so desperate and intimate that she almost forgot they were destroying Barkov's base. He had caressed her face and gently cupped her cheek when he did it, gloved fingers tugging at the short locks of hair she once had before cutting it.

"To Alex." Hank raised his glass of tea in a respectful toast to the man's name. "From what I know, he was a good man, and his sacrifice saved his comrades."

Eden smiled and raised her glass. "To Alex."

__________+__________

Eden stayed out longer to roam around after Hank went home. Tucson, at night, felt more alive, especially in the downtown area where couples or college kids went around to the bars or went the theatre to watch a movie. A lot of the individuals around her thanked her for her service and a couple even offered to buy her drinks when they saw her pass by. Most of them were drunk so she kindly refused the offer but thanked them anyway.

She found herself in front of a mural painted on the back of a building, her eyes looking over the colors in the dim light and smiling a little when she saw hers and Alex's initials still spray-painted on below the design.

That day, when this particular piece was made, Alex and Eden were offered to add onto it by the original artist. Eden ran her fingers over the red wings she painted and the broken halo in the middle. She had painted her call sign on there too: Hawk.

Alex's art was below hers. He painted a flaming skull (with her help) and put an American flag in the flames and put his call sign there too: Echo. Their initials "A + E" were in white and then the original artist's mural combined theirs to create one to thank soldiers for their service. Eden and Alex remembered how kind the artist was and how the young woman told them about her stepfather being in the military before retiring. The two met her parents that day and they treated them out for lunch.

That day--it was one Eden cherished since it was considered an official date with him. He used to speak about it all the time when they would spend weekends together or if they were working mentally draining missions.

Eden started to cry as she ran her fingers over his painting before saluting it. She needed to say goodbye, and this was the last piece of him she needed to let go of....

"Are you okay?"

Eden looked to her left to see a college kid there. The young girl was dressed in casual clothes: oversized shirt, black joggers, and converse. Her hair was pulled back and glasses rested on her face. She held the cross-body strap of her bag as she looked at Eden with concern.

"Yeah, um, I..." Eden didn't know what to say as she looked back at the painted wall.

"You're the woman I met, right? Hawk, right?"

"I'm Eden right now. Hawk is my work name. You're the girl who painted this, huh?"

"Yep. I was just walking to my car but I saw you and...yeah... I wanted to make sure you were okay before I walked over to it."

"I'll be okay. I'm just wandering... Looking for closure I guess."

The girl nodded, not wanting to pry out of respect for Eden and she slowly walked by.

"Well, it was nice to see you again. I'm guessing you'll want some time alone so I'll be on my way."

Eden watched the girl walk to her car, her chest tightening as she turned away to walk down the street. She was thankful she didn't live too far from this area, but it was going to be a long, silent walk.

__________+__________

When the Lieutenant finally trudged through her front door and closed it, Eden finally let herself sob uncontrollably. She made her way down the hall to the shower, stripping off her clothes, tossing her uniform into the clothing basket hanging on the door, then turned on the shower. She leaned against the sink as she cried, tears dripping into the bowl and her nose started to run.

When she looked into the mirror, she almost didn't recognize herself.

Since getting the injury on the side of her head, she had to cut it all off, leaving it now in a shaggy style with the underside shaved. Stitches could be seen in the healing wound.

Her eyes trailed to the new set of scars on the nape of her neck and the scar on her hip. Both from different caliber bullets, but one messed up the hearing in her one ear. She didn't need a hearing aid thankfully, but it was a close call to passing the hearing test to stay in active duty.

Eden looked at her freckled face, seeing the red bags under her eyes from sobbing and restless, sleepless nights. The more she stared at herself, the more she wanted to shatter her mirror with her fist.

"You didn't save him." She spoke to her reflection, eyes narrowed into a glare. "He died because of Price."

Deep down, she knew it wasn't true, but placing blame on someone else but herself felt like the only thing to do. She was only doing what she was ordered to do, and leaving Alex was an order given. To be completely fair, Eden could have chosen to disobey, but knowing how risky it was, all that mattered was making sure that gas never got to be released by Barkov.

After taking a quick and cold shower, Eden changed into just a t-shirt. Exhaustion finally set in as she fell onto her bed and screamed into her pillow. If her neighbors heard, she would feel bad, but the screaming needed to be let out.

Eden screamed for what felt like hours until her phone buzzed. She lifted her head, sucking in a breath and clearing her throat before answering.

"Hello?" Her voice was hoarse and scratchy when she spoke.

"Hey, Ed." It was Price

"Hey, John. Whats wrong? Am I being called in?"

"No, no. I, um, wanted to call to see how you've been? It's been a couple months since the last time we spoke, no?"

"Yeah. I've been busy with recovering the rest of Barkov's gas after we blew up his base. It's...It's been a lot."

"D'you get all of it?"

"According to the Colonel, we did. I just got home today and I was given extended leave for healing some wounds I got and to spend time with family....Not that I have any to spend time with."

Eden closed her eyes, sighing deeply as she sniffled. John had gone quiet on the other end, listening to her silently cry from stress, exhaustion, and grief.

"Soap wants to talk to you if that's all right, kid?"

John's voice sounded bitter when he that, making Eden regret saying what she did before. If he took it personally, she didn't mean to make it personal. Hell, she wasn't even thinking about what was said until now.

"Okay." Eden responded. Before she could apologize, Soap's voice filled her ear.

"Edie!" He pretty much shouted into the phone. "How've ye been?"

Eden chuckled at him

"Hey, Soap. I've been okay. You?"

"Just finishing up reports. These damn things keep spawning out of nowhere."

Eden chuckled, running a hand through her hair as she shifted in her bed. She turned onto her side and let out a deep sigh, finally calming down and relaxing her tense muscles. Soap continued to ramble--talking about some upcoming leave time he's taking, meeting Ghost for the first time, meeting Gaz.

The lieutenant listened intently, giving her input on different topics and occasionally hearing Gaz interrupt Soap in the background to talk to her. She listened to Soap and Gaz argue with one another at one point and that's when Price took his phone from them.

Silence filled the line as the two sat in a tense silence. Eden didn't know what to say, and judging from the rustling in the background on Price's end, he didn't either. Eden inhaled deeply before speaking to him.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier, John. I...I'm not exactly in the right headspace right now."

"I know, Eden." He spoke softly, sighing to himself. "I wish I could be there for you and help you through this."

"I don't know why I feel like this. You remember Operation Ember. It was worse than this. I lost my squad...my best friends since high school." She paused for a moment, brows scrunched together as she started to cry again. "Why does this hurt more than that?"

"You loved him--Alex." Price said almost instantly. "It hurts because a piece of you died, and that piece was Alex."

Eden remained silence, thinking about his words as she silently cried.

"How do you do it? Especially after my parents died? They were your best friends...your family."

"You can't let it take over your existence." Price spoke slowly, thoughtfully. "The longer you let it stick in you, the more you'll lose yourself. Instead, ask yourself what they would want you to do."

What would Alex want me to do? Eden closed her eyes. She understood what Price was trying to get through to her, and she knew he was right.

"I have to go now, but think about what I said, all right?"

"Yep. Love you, Dad."

"Love you too, Edie. I'll call again as soon as I can."

_________+_________

The next few days felt like hell for Eden.

Her apartment was barren after not being home for so long and there was no food in her cabinets (unless you counted the stale Lucky Charms.

She spent the first few days cleaning and organizing. She ordered food to be delivered for those days and only went out to get extra cleaner from the gas station down the street.

Today, Eden finally made herself look decent and went grocery shopping. She didn't dress herself in anything fancy, but just in a USMC shirt, black sweats, and one of Alex's old flannels was tied around her waist. She had all of her piercings in and her red wing tattoos were visible on her arms. She was intimidating to look at as she walked down each aisle, but she kept to herself. She received compliments from kids who liked her tattoos and there were a few older veterans who thanked her for her service.

Eden adjusted the beanie she wore to hide the bandages on the side of her head as she stood up from grabbing a box of poptarts from the bottom shelf. She was about to walk away with her cart when someone stopped her.

"Eden?"

She looked at the man in front of her, brows scrunching in thought before she realized who it was and got defensive.

"Nope. No, I'm not in the mood."

It was an ex-boyfriend of hers from 10 years ago. Reagan continued to follow her anyway, not listening to her telling him to 'fuck off.'

"I haven't seen you in forever."

"Okay. And?"

"Well, I wanted to catch up, ya know?"

"I'd rather not since the last time I saw you was when I was in the hospital recovering from being held captive for 15 months and you broke up with me. I'm not in the mood for your bullshit."

Reagan sighed in exasperation, but Eden continued to down the aisle and onto the next to get some noodle cups. He caught up to her and stopped the cart by standing in front of it.

"Can you hear me out for two seconds?"

"Reagan, I swear to fucking Christ—"

"I need—"

"Excuse me, but she said she didn't want to talk to you."

A young woman spoke up from ahead of them, her icy blue eyes narrowed at Reagan but he waved her off and joined Eden's side.

"I'm an old friend. This doesn't concern you." He snapped and made Eden walk with him.

"I hope you realize I can floor your ass." Eden growled as she pried his hands off the cart and shoved him away.

"I heard you recently got back from deployment. I wanted to see how you were."

"I'm fine. Now leave me alone."

Eden speed walked away from him, anger and frustration bubbling up in her chest when he tried to talk to her again. Without warning, Eden elbowed him in the stomach when he grabbed her arm. Reagan hunched over, wrapping his arms around himself as he tried to catch his breath.

"Leave. Me. Alone."

Eden didn't care if people saw what happened. Hell, she didn't care if someone blamed her and defended Reagan. She didn't want him around and she definitely didn't need him coming back into her life.

He left her alone when she needed him. He called her insane and unstable when she was doing so much better for herself in the months of her recovery. The only one who was actually there for her was Alex.

Alex....He wouldn't have let Reagan touch her or attempt to.

Eden remained alert as she went down the aisles, her body rigid and eyes darting frantically around her. It felt like she was clearing out a building every time she rounded a corner. Quick yet small steps; aware of everything and everyone around her.

I shouldn't be feeling like this, Eden thought to herself as she stopped in front of a shelf to grab some clearances cups and plates. She could use some actual dishes rather than the paper ones she kept in the pantry.

When she looked forward, she was met with Reagan again, but this time he had a woman with him. Eden's grip on the cart tightened.

"Listen. I've had a shitty year. I just got back from deployment, and I lost a lot of friends. I'm not in the fucking mood to entertain whatever you're trying to get out of me."

"We heard about Alex."

"And?"

"He was my friend too!"

"No! He wasn't! You accused him of sleeping with me when it wasn't like that! You were the one who chad been cheating on me for years and even during the time I was in the hospital."

"For fuck's sake, Eden, that was six years ago!"

Eden was fuming at this point, and it wasn't even because of what he did to her. She was over it, and while it still stung to see him with the girl he cheated on her with, Eden was glad she wasn't with him any longer than she needed to be.

She was angry about him not leaving her alone. He made sure to make it clear that he wanted to be left out of her life, and Eden made sure to fulfill that by completely blocked him out.

And the thing that topped it all off was the fact that Reagan was once friends with Alex long before Eden knew him. Reagan introduced them. He was the one who invited Eden to everything. Yes, she had seen Alex on base and briefly spoke to him in the professional military setting. But officially meeting Alex off-duty and finally getting to know him better? Eden had never regretted it.

The only thing she regretted was ever letting Reagan close to her, and she wished she never entertained the idea of dating him after being friends for so long.

"Fuck you both. Choke on a pair of bollocks." Was all Eden said to the two before she pushed them out of the way with her cart.

She quickly went to the checkout lane, silently fuming as she aggressively put her items on the conveyor belt. Inwardly, Eden felt bad for the worker on the receiving end and having to witness a short and intimidating Marine angrily inputting her PIN number on the card reader.

"Trust me when I say I'm not angry with you, okay?" Eden said calmly as she gently grabbed her receipt from the worker. "I've had a rough day."

"You and me both, ma'am." The worker said, relaxing from relief as he gave her an apologetic smile. "I hope your day gets better."

"Same here and right back at you."

Eden turned to exit the grocery store, legs going fast as she speed walked to her car. She looked around at her surroundings again as she loaded her the five grocery bags into the passengers. It was just like earlier: head on a swivel, movements tense and quick, body ready to fight.

"Fucking hell..." Eden growled loudly when she saw Reagan and his girlfriend coming after her.

"Fuck you both. I hope you have a day you deserve!"

Eden flipped them off as she got in her car, started it, and drove off, her hand out of her window and grinning at the rear view mirror as she heard shouts behind her. When Eden looked forward and glanced to her left, she almost slammed on the breaks from making eye contact with those familiar blue eyes.

Alex stood there, his hands tucked away in his sweatshirt pockets and his hood was pulled up. He stared back at her before being obscured by a passing bus. When it went away, he was gone.

"Alex..."

________+________

The rest of the day, Eden slept.

It didn't matter if it was only 10am when she got home from shopping, put everything away, and went to bed again. She needed to regain all the sleep she missed from this past deployment. It really did a number on her, physically and mentally.

Price had called briefly before her third nap, the man saying something about going on another mission involving an AQ cell in Portugal. Soap was going him while Gaz and Ghost were on a separate mission. He made sure to tell her he would call when he got home and he loved her before he hung up.

Every time she closed her eyes, all Eden saw was Alex. She saw him staring at her, and from what she remembered, he was missing a leg. He looked different too. His hair was darker; he had scars peaking out on his neck.

Did I see his ghost?

Eden quickly dismissed the idea. She didn't believe in ghosts, nor did she believe in a heaven or hell. Once someone was dead, they were dead. It was a bitter way of looking at life, but she also saw it as a way to make sure she lived her life to the fullest. She made sure to make a difference in this world before she became nothing but dust in the wind.

The next time she woke up, it was when she heard a loud thud and objects shattering in her living room. Eden sat up, glancing to her digital clock to see the time 12am on it. She grabbed her handgun from her nightstand and got up from her bed, gun held up and quietly walking down the hall.

Eden hugged the wall as she peeked into her kitchen, eyes narrowing to focus on an open window across the room here the living area was. A small draft blew in and moonlight shone through the sheer curtains.

Sensing someone behind her, the blonde spun around aimed her gun at the intruder. Since it was dark, she couldn't see who it was, but it was most definitely a man.

"Who the fuck are you?!"

There was no response as he raised his hands and slowly reached toward the lamp on a small table, the man switching it on to reveal himself. Blue eyes stared back at Eden as she froze, tears immediately streaming down her face as she registered who it was.

"Alex?" She whispered as he slowly walked to her and reached up to push her handgun down.

"Alex..."

Eden dropped her gun onto the couch before she wrapped her arms around him and he engulfed her in a hug. Both of them started to cry as they held one another, Alex caressing her head and pressing kisses to any part of skin his lips could fine.

"It's me, baby. It's me." Alex mumbled into her neck as she shook from crying. He could feel her fingertips digging into his back as she held onto him.

"I thought you were dead!" Eden cried as she pulled away and stared up at him.

"That was the plan, but I couldn't... I couldn't...."

He pulled away and moved his hands to caress her face. She instantly pressed her lips to his, wrapping her arms around him and pressing herself against his body. Alex kissed her back as he stumbled backwards and leaned against the wall.

"Hey, Eden..." Alex spoke between kisses and she stopped, backing away as if she did something wrong. He stopped her though and rested his hands on her hips, keeping her near him as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"I can't stay long." He told her. "I'm sorry."

Eden shook her head as she wrapped her arms around his waist, not wanting to let go of him. He held her close to his chest, head resting on top of hers as he closed his eyes.

"Can you stay the night?"

"Of course."

_________+_________

A/N: was originally going to be smut but the way this was written...it didn't work. maybe next time i'll just write the filth xD

Hawk is my COD oc and will be making more appearances soon enough. If you would like to know more about her, let me know and I'll post character sheets for her :]

7 notes · View notes