Maybe [Soap x Fem!OC]
Summary: Soap finds a kindred spirit during a trying time
Author’s Notes: This is a little of a long intro, feel free to skip it! I’ve been reading fanfiction for years, and I’ve started dozens of fics. This is the first one I’ve ever finished. (11.8K words!!!) It started off with me wanting Soap to get some medical care for his unaddressed injuries after Alone, and just exploded from there. I wanted to really highlight the bond he and Ghost formed, and then I wanted to give him love (because he deserves it!). I know it’s a bit sparse on the Price and Gaz side of things, but I feel like their bonds with Soap are sort of assumed going into this game. This game, to me, is about Soap learning that sometimes the right thing to do isn’t always so obvious, and Ghost learning to work with a team, thanks to Soap. I loved this campaign dearly, so I have a lot of dialogue carried over from scenes I really wanted to set. That being said, I changed some stuff to better incorporate my OC, Daniela. Writing reader-insert fics is a skill I just do not possess. If you’re reading, I hope you enjoy it!
And to my dear @uselsshuman, who is the furthest thing from useless, thank you so much for your encouragement to write this. Your writing and support really inspired me to get this done. This one’s for you. ❤
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or events from Modern Warfare
Warnings: language, canon-typical violence, suggestive content
Soap tucked himself behind a door, braced his back against the wall, and did his level best to breathe as silently as possible. He could hear the Shadows’ footsteps and radio chatter nearby.
He pulled back the hammer on the desert eagle he’d found in the café safe and held his breath. He didn’t want to get into a gunfight, not here. Not with them. He had decent cover, but his arm throbbed where a bullet was lodged, his ribs stung where his plates had kept him from another, his whole body ached from his jumps and falls in the city, and he was almost certain he’d damaged something in his left hip the day before.
That particular injury came from running along cliff faces to escape the cartel, which was bad enough. Adding the Shadows to that? That was terrible.
As the footsteps faded, Soap let out a slow, low breath and slumped to the ground. He let his eyes drift shut, just for a moment, taking stock of his ability to get across the plaza to the church. To Ghost. As if he knew that he was being thought about, Ghost’s voice crackled through the comms.
“Soap?“ he asked softly.
“Ghost,” whispered Soap.
“You alright?”
Soap opened his eyes and took a deep breath, peeked around the door, and answered “Think I found a way through, LT.”
“Shadows are everywhere. I’ll hold ‘em off until we RV in front of the church and secure a vehicle for exfil.”
“Roger that.” Soap crept up through the shop, taking care to stay low and move quietly.
“Give ‘em hell, Johnny. We’re almost there,” rumbled Ghost. After a moment’s pause, he added “Listen, I picked up an ally. Should help us get out of here a little easier. You’ve just got to us and we’ll get to a vehicle.”
Soap’s eyes narrowed. Ally? In Mexico? Only two people came to mind, and they were both “detained”.
“Is it Price?” he asked after a moment’s thought.
“No, one of Alejandro's Vaqueros. Wasn’t on base when Graves moved in. Showed up, realized something was wrong. We found each other killing Shadows, decided to team up.”
Soap chanced raising his head to peer out of the shop window. Seeing no Shadows, he moved for the door. “And you trust ‘im?”
“Enough, at least for now.”
“Copy that, LT. I’m on my way.”
He wiggled the door handle, but of course, nothing could be so easy. It was locked. So he pulled out the last of his makeshift pry tools, braced it in the door jamb, and pulled.
Lots of things happened all at once, then.
The door swung open. Soap yelled “Fuck!” while the Shadow said “what the- GET DOWN!”, and hit Soap with the butt of his rifle. The Shadow called his position, Soap heard “kill him!”, and then the Shadow dropped to the ground. Soap scrambled back, pressing the heel of his hand into his eye and groaning. His vision swam and his ears rang and he couldn’t get his bearings. Two more Shadows, running for the building, dropped to the sharp report of silenced sniper fire.
“Holy hell. Ghost, was that you?” Soap asked.
“Who else?” snapped Ghost’s rough voice. “Now go!”
He scrambled to his feet. And ran.
He ran as fast as his bruised body would let him, ducking behind cars and spraying with an SMG he’d picked up. He heard gunfire coming from ahead of him and cursed, grabbing for his radio.
“Ghost, how copy?”
“Johnny, got company in the church and they are not here for forgiveness. Get to the steps, we’ll be there!”
In the last few meters, Soap saw Ghost come careening out of the church doors, followed closely by a much smaller figure dressed all in black. They both turned to shoot at their followers as Soap and Ghost called out to each other. Ghost vaulted over the wrought iron fence, followed by their ally, and the three ran back the way Soap had come.
“We need a vehicle. On me!” Ghost barked. “Stay sharp. They know we’re here and they know it’s us. They’ll send more.”
Minutes that felt like hours later, after a brief firefight, the three piled into a pickup, panting and on high alert.
“Alright, Johnny! You made it.”
“We made it, LT.”
After ramming two Shadows with their stolen pickup, and nearly losing Ghost to another, they peeled off down an alley. Soap sagged against the seat, closing his eyes again. His heart and head were pounding.
“How’s that arm, Johnny?” asked Ghost.
Soap raised his head. “I’ll live,” he answered. He shivered violently, once, and Ghost cast a concerned glance in his direction.
“You sure it’s not infected?”
“Of course I’m not sure,” snapped Soap. Softening his voice, he added “But I think it’s just the cold. Between the tunnels and the rain, LT? Feels like I’m back home.”
Ghost nodded slowly. For a long moment, the two just basked in each others’ presence, grateful to have made it back together. Then, Ghost said “Daniela, would you take a look at the Sergeant’s arm? Can’t have him dying on us.”
Soap’s head snapped around to lock eyes with the ally he’d forgotten. Later, he’d remember this moment as an indication of his quickly deteriorating state. In the moment, though, he couldn’t wrap his head around anything but the woman in front of him.
Sometime between their getting into the truck and down the street, the black balaclava and hood had come off. The woman staring back at him had light olive skin and a mass of shiny black curls plastered to her head by rain. A thin, jagged, silvery scar ran from her cheekbone to her jaw, and her full lips were pursed in a barely-there smile. Soap thought he saw scarred flesh at the collar of her jacket. But he couldn’t tear his eyes away from hers. They were the bluest blue he’d ever seen- dark like the ocean, clear like the sky on a cloudless night, and as sharp as glass. Familiar, somehow.
He hadn’t necessarily had expectations of how this ally would look, but this was as far from expectation as possible. He had pictured a man, but even the fact that she was a woman wasn’t most shocking of all. It was her beauty.
He flinched when her hand landed lightly on his right shoulder, pulling gently.
“No, we can’t,” she said. Her voice was soft, musical, lightly accented. The lilt of just those three words had Soap’s head spinning for, at least he thought, completely different reasons than it had been spinning earlier. He adjusted his body so that rather than leaning with his left arm over the seat, his right arm hung over. The woman looked straight to the wound, gently prodding the flesh around the bullet wound, and Soap bit his tongue to keep from hissing in pain.
“Does that hurt?” she asked.
Soap tried to be nonchalant. He shrugged and said “Not so much.”
Ghost snorted. Soap didn’t blame him. The words sounded strained even to his own ears. And based on the older man’s jokes about not watching the cartel’s videos of his death “more than once”, this seemed like just the kind of thing he might find amusing. The thought made Soap smirk. The woman rolled her eyes, setting them on his again.
“What’s your name, hen?”
“I am Daniela. You are Soap, yes?” Soap nodded. Daniela nodded as well, focusing back on his arm. “Your Ghost, he told you that I am with Los Vaqueros?”
Soap and Ghost exchanged a look at “your Ghost”. Now Soap really was smirking, and he imagined that Ghost was grimacing under his mask.
“Aye, that he did,” he replied. He watched as Daniela unzipped her tactical vest and tore a strip of fabric from the bottom of her shirt. She began winding it around his bicep, grimacing slightly at the wheeze of pain he couldn’t hold back.
“Well we have a safehouse. We’ll get there, stock up, get you patched up a little better, and come up with a plan.” After carefully tying a knot in the makeshift bandage, she raised her eyes to Soap’s again. “It’s the best I can do right now.”
“I appreciate it,” he replied. He held her gaze for a moment before turning to face Ghost. “Alright, Ghost?”
Ghost glanced at him again. Even behind the mask, Soap could see his expression soften. “Alright, Johnny. You did well back there.” Soap grinned, and could tell by the crinkling around his eyes that Ghost was grinning, too.
“All thanks to you, LT.”
The rest of the ride was filled with soft chatter about Alejandro, Los Vaqueros, Graves, and the safehouse… and Soap trying, and failing, not to feel Daniela’s burning stare on the back of his neck.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Soap thought he was done for when Ghost shouted for him not to move. His feet had just touched the safehouse floor and Ghost was perched in the window. Before Soap even had time to react, a throwing knife flew past his head, embedding itself in the column just a meter away. Then he recognized Rodolfo’s voice.
“Quién está ahí?”
“Rodolfo!”
Rodolfo rounded the corner. “Soap, Ghost! You’re alive!” Soap could see the moment Daniela mounted the window. Rodolfo’s face crumbled, his whole body seeming to sag with relief. “Daniela!”
“Rodolfo!” She leapt from the windowsill, surging forward to wrap her arms around Rodolfo’s waist. His own arms came around her shoulders and the two rocked back and forth, holding each other, speaking in rapid-fire Spanish that Soap had no hope of understanding. Rodolfo kissed the side of Daniela’s head, holding her to him tightly. Soap looked away. His eyes met Ghost’s and the two shared a slight shrug.
While Rodolfo and Daniela chattered away, Ghost stepped toward Soap.
“Daniela should be able to fix up that arm,” he said. “She’s not a formally trained medic, but she has lots of field training and experience. She told me she’s been patching up Los Vaqueros for years.”
“Aye. How’d you say you found her? Fighting Shadows?”
Ghost looked her way, nodding. “Just a few minutes before I got you on comms, I heard a scuffle. Thought it might be you, so I went in to assist. Lo and behold, I find that one slicing up a Shadow. ‘Nother pair showed up, though, and one got her in a choke-hold. Would’ve carried her off to who knows where if I hadn’t shown up.”
Soap nodded slowly. He didn’t need any more explanation. He knew the implications of what Ghost was saying and it made his blood boil.
Ghost shrugged. “She trusted me enough since I’d just saved her life, and I trusted her enough since she was fighting them and didn’t raise her gun at me. Plus, I think she’s as dedicated to the cause as Alejandro and Rodolfo.”
“Why’s that?” asked Soap. But before Ghost could answer, Rodolfo cut in.
“Where were you guys?”
“On the run,” answered Ghost.
“I was on the run,” corrected Soap. “Ghost waited for me.”
Rodolfo nodded. “Of course, no?”
Dread sank in Soap’s stomach. “No-” he began. But Ghost cut him off.
“Yes,” he said firmly, locking eyes with Soap again. “We’re a team. All of us.”
That stunned Soap into silence. He’d known they’d bonded trying to escape Las Almas with their lives, but for all of his teasing about Ghost taking a shine to him, he hadn’t actually believed that Ghost would say the same thing.
He was touched.
Maybe even more touched by the fact that the legendary lone-wolf Ghost considered him part of his team. It was likely the highest compliment he would ever get from him.
So while Rodolfo and Ghost started in on their plan to get into the prison, Soap settled down against the safehouse wall with an MRE from Alejandro’s supplies. The adrenaline shot he’d managed to get his hands on in Las Almas was waning, and he could feel every sore muscle, the bullet in his arm, and his likely sprained hip sharply. He tried to tune in to the conversation, but his attention was immediately lost when Daniela approached him with a med kit.
She grinned a bit wryly at him. “Mind if I take a better look at that arm?” Soap nodded and braced himself to stand, but Daniela jumped forward, holding out a hand. “No, don’t get up,” she said. Soap settled back to the ground as she crouched by him, reaching for her makeshift bandage from earlier.
Soap studied her as she worked. Her hair had dried and now sat at least a few centimeters higher on her head, tight ringlets falling to her shoulders. Her eyebrows furrowed just a bit as she carefully removed the bloodied fabric. Her movements were calculated, washing the wound and looking at it closely.
“How did you join Los Vaqueros?” Soap asked. For a moment, Daniela didn’t acknowledge him. Then she raised her gaze to his.
Instead of answering his question, she said “I need to get the bullet out. It’s going to hurt. Think you can handle it?”
Soap nodded once, sharply. Her gaze softened. “I don’t have any painkillers. This isn’t going to be some… little pain. It’s going to hurt a lot.”
Soap cocked a wry grin back at her. “Just so long as my screaming doesn’t bother you,” he teased. A wicked spark lit in her eyes at that.
“It won’t bother me. Maybe I’d like to hear you scream.”
Soap’s jaw dropped. It was exactly the type of thing he’d say, but having it said to him was dumbfounding. Who was this woman?
Her smile only grew as she watched him try to compose himself. He was grateful when her gaze dropped back to the task at hand, sterilizing a pair of forceps. He was sure his face was flaming red.
“Los Vaqueros saved my life when I was sixteen,” she said softly. “My village leader refused the cartel’s demands, so El Sin Nombre set to burning the village down. I was one of three survivors.” That explained Ghost’s certainty of her dedication.
She moved to his right side, between his leg and outstretched arm, and gripped his bicep below the bullet wound.
“My whole family died that day.”
She set the forceps at the wound’s entry. Soap took a deep breath.
“I have burns all over my body from our house burning down.” That explained the scarring at her neck.
Soap lurched forward, gasping, when she dug the forceps in. The pain was so blinding that he nearly missed Daniela cursing softly in Spanish before sitting on his right leg, leaning her body against his to keep him from moving. Nearly missed. But didn’t.
“Lo ciento,” she whispered, sparing him a concerned glance. He grit his teeth and leaned his head back against the wall, chest heaving as he took deep breaths through his nose.
“I’m sorry,” he gritted out. “I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you.”
Daniela shrugged. “Alejandro pulled me out of that fire,” she continued. Her tone was light, but seemed forced. Soap wasn’t sure whether it was her attempt to calm him or to pretend her story didn’t bother her.
He felt the moment that the forceps grasped the bullet. Took a deep breath. Steeled himself. Nothing prepared him for the feeling. He’d been shot before, multiple times. Bullet removal wasn’t a walk in the park, but he hadn’t realized just how much the painkillers mattered.
Soap was not proud of the whimper he let out when Daniela yanked the bullet out in one clean motion. She dropped the forceps onto a medical tray and lightly patted his cheek before inspecting the wound closely, muttering about infection and pointedly not meeting his gaze. She poured antiseptic over the wound and reached for a bottle of pills.
“Here, take these. Antibiotics,” she said. After watching Soap swallow the pills, she picked a needle and thread up out of the med kit and continued. “Rodolfo threw a wet blanket over me. They put ointment on my burns and fed me. They offered me a home. They taught me to fight. They’ve been my family ever since.”
Soap felt a pang of kinship at her words. He flinched slightly when the needle pierced his skin, but the pain died to a dull burn as Daniela kept stitching.
“Now that, I do understand,” he said.
“You have no family?”
“No. Just the 141.”
After a few more strokes, she tied off the thread and laid a hand on his chest.
“They are my brothers. We must get Alejandro back.”
Soap reached up to cover her hand, belatedly hoping she wouldn’t be able to feel his heart pounding when she met his gaze. “We will, hermana.”
The smile she gave him was small, but her eyes were warm. It lasted for a brief moment before she arched an eyebrow.
“Hermana?” She leaned forward until her mouth brushed Soap’s ear and he was sure that she could feel his heartbeat stutter. “I certainly hope not.”
With that, she picked up her medical kit and sauntered away, leaving Soap to stare after her in shock.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Getting into the prison compound was easy enough.
“Trash bin on your right, time to take out the trash.”
“Shut up, Soap, fucking hell.”
A giggle from Daniela.
“Shoot him.”
“No, got something else in mind.”
“Fucking beautiful, sir!”
Impressed mumbling from Rodolfo.
“Cut and paste him, Ghost.”
Soap and Ghost’s banter amused Daniela to no end, even though Soap was sure he’d never been so anxious in his life. Having Ghost’s life almost solely in his hands was a responsibility he never wanted to feel again. But working with Rodolfo again helped to ease his mind.
Nearly being killed by Alejandro was less than ideal, but made worth it to watch him reunite with Rodolfo and Daniela.
“Alejandro! Al- it’s me, hermano!”
“Coronel, relájese somos nosotros!”
“Soap, Rudy, Ghost! Daniela!”
“Didn’t think we’d leave you, did ya?”
“What took you so long, pendejos?”
Getting out wasn’t quite as easy.
“Exfil vehicles are set. Ghost planted charges to help us get out.”
“With Johnny’s help.”
“Eh, I can’t call Soap ‘Johnny’.”
“Don’t. Only Ghost can pull that off.”
“Aww, really? Only your Ghost? What about me?”
“Yes, Johnny, what about Daniela?”
“Can it, LT.”
But between Los Vaqueros and the 141, they made it. Soap couldn’t put into words how much relief he felt upon seeing Gaz and hearing the old man’s voice. After being hoisted to the top, he and Daniela ended up shoulder to shoulder, her covering him while he detonated the Shadows vehicles.
“Have you been with the 141 long?” she shouted over the sounds of gunfire.
“The 141 hasn’t been around all that long,” he shouted back. “But yeah, I’ve been with ‘em since the start.” He raised his rifle, picking off three snipers with three shots.
Daniela raised an impressed eyebrow. “I can see why!”
Soap grinned wide, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye as he raised the detonator. “Would you be impressed if I told you I rigged the explosives for these things, too?”
Daniela returned his grin full force. “I would be.”
Soap’s grin only widened before he pressed the button, eyes locked with Daniela’s. He lowered his voice and said “Ka-freaking-boom, baby.” She’d giggled when he said it earlier, and as the APC exploded, she let out another delighted squeal.
“Handsome and clever? This is a good combination, Johnny,” she said. Soap was grateful that shooting was such second nature to him because in that moment, all coherent thoughts ceased to exist. When he managed to look back to Daniela, she was smiling slyly. She picked off a sniper from across the yard and Soap shook his head. Witty, intelligent, beautiful, and a good shot.
When the door to their right crashed open, Soap threw himself in front of Daniela to cover her as they each shot one of the men inside. Ghost barked at Soap about weapons, and he came back to the wall with a grenade launcher. He released several grenades before the last of Alejandro’s men mounted the wall top, and then made sure that Daniela went down the other side before him.
When he stumbled getting to their transport out, he chalked it up to battle fatigue, which he told both Ghost and Daniela when they asked whether he was okay. Neither looked convinced, but neither questioned him. They did sit on either side of him for the ride back to the safehouse, though.
Daniela leaned close to him. “How do you feel?” she asked.
“Never better,” he lied. His whole body throbbed in varying levels of discomfort and pain. At least his head had stopped throbbing. Daniela leveled her gaze at him, and he returned a wide grin. She rolled her eyes and dropped it. Instead, she said “Thank you for covering me. You didn’t have to do that.”
Soap’s grin softened. “I know,” he said.
Back at the safe house, lively music played softly in the garage as Los Vaqueros cleaned weapons, loaded vehicles, and fed themselves. Soap felt slightly out of place, like he and the rest of the 141 were walking into someone’s home. Everyone either had something to say or shook hands with Daniela and Rodolfo as they passed, and they both smiled warmly at their friends.
Soap and Ghost made their way to an unoccupied pair of cots in the corner, observing their newfound comrades. Price had disappeared with Alejandro to formulate a plan, ordering the two to sleep. But exhausted as he was, Soap wasn’t sure he’d be able to.
He couldn’t get comfortable. No matter which way he turned, something ached or stung. He tried relaxing his muscles. He tried breathing deeply. He tried counting sheep.
Every time he closed his eyes, he could see the fire and the blood from the streets of Las Almas. He could hear the screaming and the pleading and the gunfire. He tried covering his eyes, and his ears. Eventually, he rolled to his side, facing Ghost. He was startled to meet the Lieutenant’s eyes.
“Simon?” Soap asked softly.
“Johnny,” said Ghost, equally as softly.
Soap chewed his lip. “Do you ever forget?”
Ghost held his stare, unflinching. “No. You don’t.” Soap hadn’t realized before, but Ghost’s eyes were bloodshot. He looked tired. He’d learned quickly that he slept infrequently, and for short periods of time. It made a lot more sense, now. Ghost rolled over, huffing out a soft breath. “But eventually, you’ll learn to sleep anyway.”
Soap stared at his back, wondering if he would. Wondering if Ghost ever had. He didn’t know how long he stared at his teammate, but it felt like hours later that someone sat gently on the end of his cot. He flew up, grabbing for the bowie knife he kept in his tactical vest.
Daniela raised her hands, offering a tired smile. “Mind if I take a look at that arm?”
“Sure.” Soap swung his legs off of the cot, resting his hands on the edge. Daniela turned toward him, reaching out and carefully pulling off the dressing she’d applied that early morning.
“How does it feel? Any sharp pains or itching? Any dizziness, fever?” As soon as she said fever, Soap realized he’d been sweating more than usual. He’d absolutely been feeling dizzy since that harrowing night on the run, but it seemed to have died down throughout the day. And now that he actually paid attention long enough, it was quite itchy.
“No,” he lied. Once again, those ocean eyes seemed to pierce his very soul, challenging him. She knew. But she didn’t say anything, simply reached into the med kit for the same bottle of antibiotics and handed him two. Soap took them gratefully. The team couldn’t afford to be without him, and Ghost would surely order him to stay back if he thought the Sergeant was at all compromised.
Again, she washed the wound with antiseptic, then applied a fresh coat of salve before covering it with a fresh bandage.
“Why are you awake, anyway?” she asked suddenly. Soap’s head snapped up, eyes flying to hers. She looked nearly as exhausted as Ghost, all bloodshot eyes and frazzled hair and sagging shoulders. Still gorgeous.
Soap shrugged uncomfortably. “Couldn’t sleep. What about you?”
She shrugged back, offering a small smile. “Couldn’t sleep either. It makes sense, though. You’ve been through a lot the last few days.” The last few days? When Soap cocked an eyebrow at her, she fidgeted a bit. “I, uh… I was there in the cartel house. When Valeria interrogated you.”
Several things clicked into place for Soap very suddenly. Alejandro had taken him to the elevator once he got into the cartel house, and another guard had escorted him out and down to the basement. Small, with ocean-blue eyes. Then at the oil rig, Alejandro had sent one man with Soap and Graves to the ship. Dani.
“You’re strong for your size,” said Soap in awe. Daniela had shoved him repeatedly through the hallway, even tapping the side of his face with the butt of her gun when he had begun to look over his shoulder.
She smiled wryly. “Sorry about that. We had to make it real, and we couldn’t risk any more comms than we had.”
“No, no, it’s okay. You did good,” said Soap. “Why can’t you sleep?”
Daniela shifted again. “I don’t do so well the night before big missions. I usually bunk next to Alelandro or Rodolfo, but they’re both… occupied. So, I came over here instead. To you.”
Soap’s heart melted. He was so drawn to this woman, and to know that she felt even a fraction of that bond made his heart swell with gratitude. “You can bunk with us,” he said quickly. Then, glancing around, he realized that there didn’t seem to be any available cots. “Take my cot. I can sleep in a chair.”
Daniela’s face had washed with relief when he spoke, but some tension returned as she looked down at her hands. “Don’t be silly,” she mumbled. “I’m not putting you out of your cot after the week you’ve had.”
“Well then, you’ll just have to share it with me,” teased Soap. He held his breath when Daniela’s head snapped up. He wasn’t sure what had possessed him to say anything so bold, but he’d taken it and run with it. “There’s plenty of space for both of us.”
“If I sleep on top of you, maybe,” snorted Daniela. Soap wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Daniela giggled.
Soap softened his voice, speaking more seriously. “I really don’t mind sharing.”
She contemplated for a moment, sighed, and then rolled her eyes. “Fine. Just don’t complain if I crush you.”
Now it was Soap’s turn to snort. He lay down carefully, his back to Ghost’s cot, and raised his right arm. Daniela lay down beside him, turning onto her side and tucking herself under his chin. A perfect fit. Soap gently let his arm come down over her waist, laying his hand on the cot rail.
“This okay?” he whispered. She nodded. Soap nodded, too. His heart was pounding. He hadn’t been close to someone like this in… well, a long time.
The 141 was his whole life. There was always work to be done, and without a family to go home to, there was no real reason to take leave. On the rare occasion he did, he just ended up in his home town in Scotland. He’d flirt, constantly, but he seldom brought anyone home. He longed for something deeper, and sex alone could never fill that void. Plus, no one wanted to commit to someone who could be gone for months at a time.
But this? To be close to someone? This was filling the void just fine. Soap had to fight the urge to pull her further back against him as her breathing evened out, her body naturally leaning more on his own. As he dozed, he was proud of himself for staying still. He drifted in and out of sleep, dreaming empty dreams and feeling her shift against him.
As he finally woke up the next morning, he felt his hip aching fiercely. He started to shift to take some pressure off of it, and froze. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Daniela’s wild hair. He groggily remembered that they’d shared a cot the night before. All of his pride at his self-control dissolved instantly when he realized that his arm was around her waist, holding her tightly to his chest. She must have turned over in her sleep, because her leg was thrown over his hip, pulling their bodies flush together.
He could already feel a problem, and this was not the time or place. He had to get out of this cot without waking her up. He shifted back, then froze as Daniela’s hand ran up to the back of his head to tangle her fingers in his mohawk. Her eyelids fluttered, her fingers pulled lightly at his hair, and her leg tightened around his hips. Soap’s eyes fluttered shut as he swallowed a groan. Fuck. When he opened his eyes again, she was smiling at him sleepily.
“That’s the best sleep I’ve gotten in months,” she whispered. Soap nodded, desperately trying to get his body under control before she woke up any more. To his dismay, she nuzzled closer to him, nose rubbing under his jaw and hips shifting back and forth for a moment. Her eyes snapped open, eyebrows arching. “Feels like you slept pretty well, too, eh big boy?” Hells bells, this woman. Soap barely suppressed a full body shudder as she beamed at him.
“I didn’t, I’m not, I-” he stuttered. But Daniela placed her fingers over his lips, silencing him. Her eyes were full of mirth.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” she teased. Then she languidly stretched, pressing against him as much as humanly possible before climbing out of the cot and sashaying away, tossing a wicked grin over her shoulder at him. Soap turned to Ghost’s cot, which was blessedly empty, and then pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes, still fighting for his body to cooperate. Hells fucking bells.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When Alejandro called his men, all sound stopped. The place became a real base in that moment. Los Vaqueros and the 141 gathered around a makeshift operations table, listening intently as Price spoke.
“This is a fight against our own. We are not 141 and Los Vaqueros on this. We’re a team. Ghost team.”
Soap’s eyebrows shot up when the Captain dumped out a bucket of masks, then his eyes snapped up to Ghost. Ghost was staring at him, and Soap was almost certain he was steeling himself. Their silent conversation lasted only a moment before Ghost reached up, pulling off his mask, pausing before reaching for one from the table. Price reached a hand up to his shoulder.
“Good to see you again, Simon,” he said.
Soap carefully schooled his features in an attempt to soothe Ghost’s nerves, but he felt a distinct surge of pride in being one of the few to be allowed to know the Lieutenant. As the older man adjusted the mask over his face, the two shared another weighted look. Soap quirked up one corner of his mouth, shaking his head. Quite the opposite, indeed.
Alejandro laid out the plan to get into the Los Vaqueros facility. “We’ll infiltrate the base with two Ghost teams. Team one is Captain Price, Gaz, me, and one pilot. Team two is Ghost, Soap, Rudy, Dani, and Los Vaqueros.”
Ghost and Soap looked to each other and nodded. Then Soap turned to Daniela, raising an eyebrow. He mouthed “Dani?”
She smirked, mouthing back “Johnny?”
Soap grinned. He looked to Ghost, who was shaking his head. But his eyes were crinkled with mirth.
“While Gaz and me locate and secure Valeria, Ghost team 2 will find Graves… and kill him.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ghost team 2 fought their way through the base to the HQ building, then fought their way through that. Soap and Ghost moved together like they’d fought together for years, and Daniela and Rodolfo effortlessly slotted themselves into their dynamic. Between the three of them, no Shadows made it more than a few steps into the open.
Watching Price’s helo go down had Soap’s stomach sinking. “Steamin’ hell!” Soap shouted. He and Ghost shared a heavy look while Daniela and Rodolfo cursed softly. Rodolfo quickly recovered, clambering up the wall with Soap’s help. Daniela followed after, lightly stepping into Soap’s linked hands before joining Rodolfo in straddling the wall. The two of them pulled Soap up quickly, who turned to Ghost.
“Ghost, you comin’?” he asked.
“No. Price and the pilot need help. You three finish this.”
Soap’s head whipped back and forth between Ghost and the other side of the wall until he saw something that made his stomach drop even more. “Look!” he shouted.
“That’s not ours!” shouted Rodolfo.
“Holy shite. Graves brought a fuckin’ tank!” growled Soap, dropping to the ground. He glanced at Rodolfo and Daniela. “You ready for this?”
“Hell yeah!” answered Rodolfo. Daniela nodded curtly. Soap motioned for the three to split up.
“Looks like the hunters are getting hunted now, huh?” came Graves’ sneering voice. “Ain’t that a kick in the ass?”
“Can’t wait to bake this bastard,” grumbled Soap. He, Daniela, and Rodolfo had run into different buildings. Rodolfo tried to call out C4 stashes, Daniela threw grenades as she could, and Soap gestured for both of them to stay down and inside. Then he ran for his life.
“You and your mexicano friends fucked with the wrong hombre, MacTavish!” yelled Graves.
“Come on out and let’s talk about it,” quipped Soap. Daniela snorted, and despite the severity of the situation, Soap found himself smiling.
Graves seemed altogether less pleased. “You think this is a fucking game out here? You wanna play war? Let’s play some fucking war, chicos! One of you dipshits needs to die last. Who’s it gonna be?”
“Go fuck yourself, Graves.” Soap threw a brick of C4 straight into the tank’s path, silently congratulating himself when it blew.
“You got a healthy disrespect for authority, Soap. I like that about you!”
“You’re Shepherd’s lap dog. You get paid to break the rules.”
“There’s only two rules here, boys. Walk away… or win. Guess which one I choose?” Soap vaulted through a window. It wasn’t high, but the landing still made his hip throb in protest. He grunted softly. “Shoulda gone home when you had the chance, Soap- you and that asshole with the mask, hiding behind that uniform.”
Soap’s temper instantly flared. “You wore that uniform,” he ground out. He was crouched by another C4 stash, trying to judge Graves’ location.
“That uniform was a limitation!” shouted Graves. “I shed that skin!”
“Like a fuckin’ snake,” Soap hissed.
“Like a fuckin’ soldier, son.”
“You had to make your own little army ‘cause you couldn’t hack it in the real one.” This time, Soap managed to stick the side of the tank with C4 as it passed. He ran, detonated, and silently cheered again when he heard the second explosion.
Soap managed to tune out most of the rest of what Graves said, until he turned his attention to Rodolfo. His Spanish wasn’t great, but he picked up the general idea that Graves was saying the 141 were no friends to Los Vaqueros.
“Oye, pendejo!” Daniela’s voice suddenly cut through the radio. Most of what she said was lost to Soap, but she sounded furious. He picked out the words “friends”, “assholes like you”, “good people”, and “brothers”, and “death”. Hermanos hasta la muerte.
Graves must have understood more than Soap, because his driving became erratic and he shouted back to Daniela in what Soap did recognize as poorly pronounced Spanish.
Her distraction gave him enough time to sneak up behind the tank and lay one last brick of C4 between the tank’s body and tread. But just as he started to back off, the gun began to swing in his direction. Soap braced himself to run, and then froze.
“Graves!” Daniela shouted. She had leapt up to stand in the window of the building directly ahead of Soap. As the tank's gun swung back in her direction, Soap scrambled to his feet, racing forward.
“Pinche tu madre,” she sneered.
Soap could hear the tank’s gun spinning up.
“No!” He shouted. Daniela’s head snapped in his direction. Her face fell when they locked stares, eyes flashing with anxiety. She took half a step toward him, but Soap launched himself through the window. In one smooth motion, he wrapped his arm around Daniela’s waist, yanked her against himself, and pulled them to the ground. He landed hard on his shoulder as he heard the tank fire and rolled her under him as fast as he could, tucking his head against hers and shielding them both with his arms. The building crumbled under the impact, sheetrock and dust raining down on them. Several chunks of sheetrock landed across Soap’s back. That’ll be a few new bruises.
As it began to settle, Soap raised his head just enough to look down at Daniela. They were nose to nose when she opened her eyes, hands coming up to run over his covered head.
“Y’alright?” Soap whispered. She nodded frantically.
“You?” He nodded. As he shifted his shoulders, bits of rubble fell off and cracked against the ground. He winced.
He looked up and around. Graves’ tank was rotating, looking for them. He glanced to the stairs, then looked back down at Daniela.
“Hold onto me,” he whispered. Daniela cocked an eyebrow, but wrapped her arms around his neck. Soap grabbed one of her legs behind the knee, wrapping it around his waist, and she smirked before wrapping her other leg around his back as well. As serious as the situation was, their position wasn’t lost on Soap. Twice in one day? He swallowed hard. C’mon, MacTavish.
As quickly as he dared, he crawled for the stairwell. He could see Graves’ tank through the doorway on the opposite wall, facing away. In the last meter, he leapt to his feet and ran up several steps, stopping midway to lean against the wall. Daniela slid down his body, resting her hands on his chest. Soap shivered. They were both panting slightly. Her eyes shone as she looked up at him.
“Gracías, guapo,” she said softly. Then her hand snapped up to her earpiece. She started down for a moment, then looked back up at Soap. “Rodolfo moved to Los Vaqueros private channel. He says there should be an RPG downstairs,” she said.
Soap nodded, clicking through channels until he could hear Rudy’s voice. “I’ll get it,” he said.
Daniela grabbed his arm as he moved, stopping him in his tracks. “Be careful,” she said. He nodded, clasping her arm.
“I will.”
He crept down the stairs, peeking around the wall to where he’d last seen Graves’ tank. It wasn’t there. Staying low, he rounded the corner, eyes searching frantically for the RPG.
“Check under the counter, hermano,” whispered Rodolfo. When Soap glanced up, he could barely see the other man peeking around a doorframe across the yard. He crept to the bar counter, slid open the door as quietly as possible, and grabbed the RPG inside.
“Siiick,” said Soap, raising the RPG to his shoulder. With his back to the wall, he slowly made his way to an opening, searching for Graves. Not seeing him, he stayed. And breathed. And waited.
He could hear the thing driving around outside, searching for him or the others. He just hoped they were well hidden.
His radio crackled. “He’s heading your way, Soap,” said Daniela quietly.
“Rog’,” he replied. “Stay down.”
Carefully, he crouched and turned, ready to fire as soon as the tank came into view. He didn’t have to wait long. With a deep breath, he stood, pulled the trigger, and dove behind the cabinet again. The explosion from the tank seemed to rock the very ground. He realized that he’d never detonated the last brick of C4. Double trouble, then.
Slowly, Soap stood and leaned around the corner. Graves’ tank was a ball of fire, smoke and flames billowing into the sky. He heard Daniela step down the stairs, then felt her small hand on his shoulder blade. Rudy peeked around the corner of a doorway, looking around before stepping outside. Soap and Daniela did the same, cautiously walking forward.
“You did it, Soap,” said Rodolfo softly.
“You two and me, hermano,” said Soap.
“Brought a gun to a tank fight.”
Soap chuckled, smiling under his mask. “Yeah we did!” He reached for his radio, clicking back to the main channel. “Soap to Ghost- I’m with Rudy. Graves is KIA. How’s Price?”“Angry. Lost a good cigar in the crash. Pilot’s okay, too. Out.”
Rodolfo relayed the message to Alejandro. They all took a moment to breathe. And then they moved out to meet Ghost Team 1.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Soap’s head was spinning. They had all known Valeria was a wildcard, but he didn’t think any of them had expected her to drop the bomb of information that a missile was in Chicago. Not even Alejandro. Price handed her off to Los Vaqueros almost immediately, the threat in his voice clear. Soap wasn’t surprised, and he didn’t expect to ever see her alive again.
He was surprised when he had to lift Daniela up and out of the container after she lunged for Valeria. He dragged her out kicking and screaming in Spanish, all curses and threats. Rudy followed them out first, trying to calm her down, but there was nothing for it. The other woman was single-handedly responsible for the deaths of all of her family and friends. Soap couldn’t fault her rage.
Gaz came out next, raising his eyebrows at Soap in a silent question. Soap nodded, affirming that he was alright. Daniela had stopped thrashing, but her chest still rose and fell quickly against his arms. He’d had to lean back against the wall, lifting her feet off the ground to keep her from beelining to the container. Now she stood, back against his chest, hands gripping his tactical harness where it crossed his thighs.
“I won’t pretend to know what you’re feeling,” Gaz began softly. He paced slowly back and forth in front of them. “But I do know that she’s not worth throwing your life away.”
“She stole my life!” hissed Daniela. “She took my family. She took everything from me! And now she’s doing it all again! More people will lose their lives, lose their families, if she isn’t stopped!”
“But she gave you a purpose,” said Gaz firmly. He’d stopped pacing, staring directly at Daniela now. “You’ll never let that happen to anyone ever again. We are going to stop her. And I know it’s not the same thing, but she gave you a family, too. Hell, she gave you two families. You, Alejandro, Rodolfo? Los Vaqueros? You’ll always have a family with the 141, now.”
Soap squeezed her just a bit tighter at that, his own silent affirmation. After a moment, Daniela’s hands released his harness and lay flat against his legs. She seemed to sag back against him. Her voice shook slightly when she spoke.
“Gracias, hermano.”
Gaz simply nodded before returning to the container. For several minutes, Soap and Daniela said nothing. Then, very softly, she said “You can let me go.”
“Aye? You won’t kick me in the shins and run off to kill her anyway?”
Daniela snorted at that. “No.” With one final squeeze, Soap let her go. As he did, Alejandro came storming out of the container, followed closely by Rodolfo. He moved straight for Daniela, gripping her shoulders.
“We’re going to be hunted men, Dani,” he said. “I’m not letting her get away with this. Rodolfo and I will handle her, and we’ll handle the cartel. But you…” He looked up at Soap, then back at Daniela. He pointed to Soap with one finger. “You need to go with them. I don’t want you to be a part of this.”
“Alejandro, no, soy-”
“No,” he growled. He tilted his head back to look at the ceiling, and Soap realized when he looked at Daniela again that he was tearing up. He lowered his head to her level, staring at her intently. “What did I tell you the night we found you?”
Rodolfo had turned his head away, shoulders stiff. Soap couldn’t see her face, but he could hear in her voice that Daniela was tearing up, too. “You told me you would always protect me,” she whimpered.
Alejandro shook her gently. “This is me protecting you, hermana.” He pointed to Soap. “That man will protect you with his life. You told me so yourself. Rodolfo told me.” He glanced back to Soap, who nodded, stunned. “And I can see it when I look at him, and the way he looks at you. You have to go with them. You have to get that missile, and you have to stay out of Mexico until this dies down. And then you know we’ll welcome you back with open arms.”
Rodolfo turned, reaching out a hand to hold Daniela’s. “This has always been our fight, mijá,” he whispered. “It doesn’t have to be yours. And I know you chose it, but this time… just let us do this for you. Sabes que te amamos.”
Price and Gaz had come out of the container again, Price holding Valeria. They both nodded to Soap, who nodded to Daniela when she looked over to him. Her gaze dropped, and then she looked back to her men.
“Yo sé que tú,” she whispered.
Alejandro moved to Soap while Rodolfo hugged Daniela.
“Go. You have work to do,” he said. Then he pulled Soap closer, and softly said “Take care of her.”“You know I will,” whispered Soap. He backed toward their plane. “Keep fighting the good fight, hermano!” he called.“To the bitter end, my brother!” said Alejandro.
“Good luck, amigos,” said Rodolfo.
Price shoved Valeria into the backseat of Alejandro and Rodolfo’s vehicle while Soap, Ghost, and Daniela moved to board the aircraft Gaz had already started up.
“Ghost!” called Alejandro. Ghost turned back, cocking his head slightly. “No te pierdas, hermano!”
Whatever Ghost said back, Soap didn’t understand. But Daniela smiled, blowing a kiss with two fingers that Alejandro caught out of midair and held to his heart. Then they turned, boarded the plane, and were away.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Soap had long since abandoned his fear of heights. Walking down a 60-story building didn’t make him nervous, but the hostage situation did. Ghost’s calm helped him keep his cool, though, and soon enough, Daniela was getting hostages out of the building while Soap and Price moved on Hassan. They cleared entire floors of the building in record times.
“And that’s why they call him Soap,” mumbled Ghost. Daniela’s answering giggle warmed Soap’s heart. Upon hearing this, Ghost added “Did you know he’s the youngest one of us? Got in with the SAS at sixteen.”
“Sixteen? Soap, you get more and more impressive the more I learn about you!”
Soap’s face flamed.
Despite the hostages, the mission was going smoothly. Too smoothly. Then, Laswell announced that Hassan had the controls. Ghost confirmed visual on floor 46, and back out they went.
“Soap, we find those controls, it’s up to you to disarm that missile.”
“Copy that… done it once before.”
The RPG could have ruined the whole plan, but Soap and Price were both lucky that it missed them. They moved into the building as quickly as possible, clearing yet another room in record time with Ghost’s sniper support.
When Gaz called that they had the target cornered, Soap and Price raced in his direction. Then came Laswell saying that the missile was launching. Everyone was speaking at once.
“No, no, no!” screamed Price.
“Fecking hell,” growled Soap.
“Watcher, where’s the target?” yelled Price.
“Unknown, we’re working on it.”
“Copy. We’re going for Hassan. This way Sergeant!” he yelled to Soap. Then, “Gaz, where’s Hassan?”
Price and Soap were rounding the corner when Gaz answered. “End of the hall! Hassan’s holed up behind those doors.”
Price’s response was furious. “Let’s clear this out and bag him, then.”
When they got the snake cam under the door, the whole thing went to shit.
The door blew. Soap and Price flew back and Gaz collapsed like a bag of rocks. Soap’s ears were ringing, he was bleeding, and he could hardly breathe. Only Gaz’s quick recovery saved his life. He was dragged into cover before Price took a bullet and Gaz went back for him, too.
Everything after was a blur. One moment, Soap was leaping down a falling elevator shaft. The next, he was running from the man he stole the laptop from. Then hiding. Then detonating the missile with Laswell’s help. Then, running for his life, again.
“Nicely done, Johnny. Now for the hard part,” said Ghost.
“That was the fuckin’ hard part, LT.”
“Let’s find out. You need to stay alive, take out the guards, and kill Hassan.”
Soap looked around frantically. “I just need a weapon,” he said.
“Make one,” Ghost replied. He sounded so nonchalant. It made Soap huff out a laugh.
“Aye. Like old times, huh LT?”
Ghost’s voice was fond when he said “Seems like yesterday.”
Soap replied with equal fondness. “It was yesterday.”
He hid. He ran. With Ghost’s help, he fashioned some makeshift weapons. Then he ran headlong into Hassan. Before he could react, his world went dark.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When Soap came to, he was being dragged by his foot. At first, he wasn’t sure where he was. Then he recognized the office he’d been chasing Hassan through.
Hassan. It was Hassan dragging him along.
Sluggishly, his mind went through his team. Ghost. Overwatch. Price. Holed up trying to recover. Gaz. Unknown. Daniela.
Daniela.
Alejandro had sent her with him and he didn’t even know where she was, whether she was safe. His heart twinged painfully. He didn’t have time to think, though. Hassan was yelling about fire and thinking they could stop him. Soap couldn’t focus on it.
Ghost.
“Ghost,” he whispered into his throat mic.
“Soap!”
“Watch… the window,” he managed.
Something exploded.
Hassan dragged him to his feet. Still going on about invading, not attacking.
He thrust Soap in front of him, pushing him toward the window. Soap desperately tried to keep his footing.
“Soap,” said Ghost. Soap vaguely recognized panic in his voice. “Soap, I see him, but I can’t-”
“Take the shot, LT,” mumbled Soap.
“What was that? What are you saying?” Hassan had him by his vest now, shaking him violently.
“Soap, I can’t get a clear-”
“Take. The shot.” Soap’s jaw was clenched. It took all of his power to hold onto Hassan’s wrists enough not to fall back. Hassan was still pushing forward, shouting, and Soap was fighting a losing battle. Hassan was going to push him out of the window.
And he couldn’t stop it.
“I’m sorry,” said Ghost.
Then, just as Soap’s heels touched the ledge, searing pain shot through his chest. He lurched forward with the impact, falling into Hassan.
Hassan’s eyes were wide. Soap thought he saw blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. His rattled brain couldn’t make sense of it as they both fell to the ground.
“Johnny, MOVE!” roared Ghost. With the last of his energy, Soap shoved as hard as he could, rolling off of Hassan’s body. Another piercing shot rang out and Hassan’s head cracked backward against the ground.
Soap blinked at Hassan’s body. Ghost was shouting for him through his earpiece. Suddenly, the pieces clicked into place.
“You shot me,” he said dumbly to Ghost.
“Oh thank God,” muttered Ghost. He could hear Daniela shrieking in the background, too.
“You saved me,” he said. The whole room seemed colorful and soft. Spinning. Like a carousel.
Soap smiled, head lolling down.
He could vaguely hear Ghost and Daniela and Gaz yelling, but he was too tired to listen. Just a wee nap. That’s all I need.
Footsteps pounded nearby. With great effort, Soap turned his head. It didn’t hold where he wanted it to, just flopped onto the ground on the other side. He watched a small black pair of boots race across the floor toward him.
“No no no no, hijo de puta. Por favor, Dios, no.” Suddenly, Soap’s head and shoulders were being lifted. Then he was dragged back against something soft. He looked up. Daniela was running her hands over his head, his chest, clawing at his tactical vest. “Por favor, Dios, no,” she repeated. Her voice shook as badly as her hands and tears streamed down her face.
“Hey,” Soap said. He grinned up at her. “Whassa matter? Why’re you crying?”
He reached a hand up to her, wiping her cheek with his thumb. He couldn’t keep it raised and it flopped back to his side.
“John Soap MacTavish, you’d better not die on me,” she muttered. She had gotten his vest loose and was pulling his shirt up roughly.
“Hey, bonnie, at least buy me dinner first,” he slurred. He chuckled. It was silly. It was all so silly. He could hear Ghost yelling faintly, but he wasn’t sure why. Daniela was leaning heavily on his chest, and he wasn’t sure about that either.
Suddenly, he felt as though he’d been sat out in snow for a good few hours. “Hey, are you cold?” he asked Daniela.
“Hey,” Daniela said sharply. She gripped his chin between her fingers. “Look at me.”
Clarity hit Soap like a ton of bricks. He’d been shot. He was bleeding. Cold from shock. That’s why Daniela was crying and Ghost was yelling. He’d been knocked out. Likely had a concussion. He looked up at her solemnly, grabbing her wrist with his hand. Don’t die on me, she’d said. He was dying.
They’d talked quite a bit over their few days together. Talked about their hopes and dreams, and how those fit into their dangerous lives. Talked about their dedication to their teams, their values, their futures. Talked about growing up, their families, how they’d gotten there.
She’d asked him if he’d ever been in love.
He’d said he hadn’t. But he wasn’t so sure that was true, any more.
When he’d asked her, she’d said “maybe” with a sly smile his direction, all twinkling eyes and rosy cheeks.
He blinked, hard. He wanted to know what that meant.
“What did you mean… when you said maybe?” he panted out.
For a moment, Daniela just blinked at him. Then her eyes softened, tears slipping down her cheeks as she understood his question. “I meant I might be,” she whispered. “I’m not quite sure yet. You’ll have to give me some time to figure it out.”
Soap hummed, eyes drifting shut. “I’m pretty sure,” he breathed. Daniela gasped, but he reached up to touch her cheek before she could say anything. “You,” he began, voice a whisper. “You are the most… the most beautiful, intelligent, amazing woman that… that I’ve ever-”
Daniela didn’t let him finish. Her lips were on his before he knew it. He was kissing her before even registering that she’d leaned down. Her lips were soft, just like he’d imagined. She tasted like strawberries and mint and salt. Tears. She kissed him desperately, and he kissed her desperately back. His hand slid back to tangle in her curls. So unbelievably soft. He could hardly move his head, but she tilted her own to deepen the kiss. She ran her tongue along the seam of his lips and he moaned, low in his chest. He weakly tried to pull her closer. No point hiding it now. Besides, if he was going to die, what better way to go? More footsteps pounded in the door. He could vaguely make out Gaz and Price’s voices.
And then, above them all, nearly a full octave up in his panic, Ghost. “Johnny!”
Daniela’s teeth lightly grazed his lip. Soap sighed, then everything went black.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Soap woke to a gentle beeping. His head and mouth felt like they were stuffed with cotton. His body felt like one big bruise, but with shards of glass sprinkled throughout it. He couldn’t open his eyes. There was light pressure against his right hip.
He breathed deeply. Ouch.
Slowly, his eyes cracked open. The room was dark, but moonlight streamed in through a window out of the corner of his eye. He could see that the ceiling was bright white.
“Johnny?”
Slowly, he turned his head toward the familiar voice. As he did, Ghost rose to his feet from his chair, taking two quick steps to the bedside.
Soap opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Ghost scrambled to pour a cup of water, then gently helped Soap lift his head to drink. As he did, Soap realized what the pressure on his hip was. Daniela.
Her head lay at the junction of his torso and legs, black curls shining in the moonlight. The bags under her eyes were nearly as dark as Ghost’s grease paint. Her right hand gripped his thigh, and her left hand held his. She didn’t stir.
Soap swallowed several times. “What happened?” he finally asked.
Ghost’s gaze dropped to the floor. “Do you want the short or long story?” he asked. His voice sounded exhausted.
“How about the short one, for now?”
“I shot you,” said Ghost. For a moment, Soap thought he wouldn’t elaborate. Then, Ghost looked up to meet his eyes. “I shot you, Johnny. Because you told me to. Because you’re the best of us, and you’re clever.”
Soap nodded, eyes drifting shut, not processing Ghost’s words.
“You’re lucky I’m such a good shot,” Ghost added, grumbling.
Soap chuckled softly, wincing as he did. “That I am,” he said. “Hassan?”
“I shot him, too. Twice, actually.”
“Through me the first time, eh LT?”
Ghost looked unamused. But when Soap grinned at him, his eyes softened. “That’s right, Johnny.”
“Perfect shot, LT.”“You called it, Sargeant.”
“The best of us, huh LT?”
“Can it, Sergeant.”
For a moment, the two shared a companionable silence. Then, Ghost spoke so softly that Soap thought he may have imagined it. “I almost didn’t take it.”
“The shot? Why not?”
“There was no shot. He had you directly in front of him, and he would have thrown you out that window before I had time to move.”
“You still got him, LT. I’ll call that a win.”“We got him, Johnny.”
“I’m starting to think you really have taken a shine to me, Simon.”
Ghost hung his head before looking back up. “Maybe I have.” He turned, picking up his chair, and sat it right by the bed as quietly as he could. “That one has, for sure.” He nodded to Daniela.
Soap looked down at her. “How long have you both been here?”
“Since you got here,” Ghost mumbled. Soap’s head snapped back to him.
“And when was that?”
Ghost shrugged, leaning back in his chair. “Four days, give or take.” Soap stared at him. Finally, he threw up his hands. “You, Sergeant, should have died.”
He lifted one gloved hand, ticking off fingers as he spoke. “You have a field-treated gunshot wound to your right arm, which was in fact infected. Thank your lucky stars that Daniela saw through your idiocy.” That explained a lot of little things he’d missed. Like a passenger in a getaway vehicle. “A bruised bone in your hip. Three cracked ribs. A grade four concussion. Multiple hairline fractures in your legs. And a shredded left pec from a 50 caliber bullet. Might I add that last one only missed your heart by centimeters?”
Soap snorted. “Well, that explains a lot about how I feel. Hell, how I’ve been feeling.”
Ghost just shook his head. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Thought we lost ya. Again.”
“You’re not getting rid of me that easy, LT.”
“Good,” grumbled Ghost. He looked toward Daniela. “I had to pry her off of you,” he said softly.
Soap looked down at her again. She looked younger than before, peaceful in her slumber. But he could see the exhaustion plainly on her face. “Yeah?” he asked.
“Mhmm,” murmured Ghost. “Could hardly get her across the hall to shower.”
Soap let his eyes drift shut, exhaustion washing over him all over again. “Where are we, anyway?”
“Amsterdam. Laswell has friends here. We’re in a private hospital.”
“Price? And Gaz?”
“They’re trying to find a lead on Shepherd.”
Soap nodded sleepily, relieved that their squad was still intact. “She kissed me,” he murmured.
“Doctors say she saved your life with that.”
Soap hummed, cracking one eye open to peer at Ghost. He shrugged.
“Something about the adrenaline helping to push off the shock.”
Soap hummed again, letting his eyes slide shut.
“Sleep, Johnny.”
He did.
When he woke again, sunlight was streaming through the window. He shifted slightly, and felt Daniela spring up when he did.
When he opened his eyes, she was staring at him anxiously.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Soap murmured.
Tears sprang instantly to her eyes. She squeezed his thigh, standing and reaching her hand up to cup his face.
“Oh, Johnny,” she whispered.
“Hey, hey, don’t cry,” he said. He reached up a hand to hold hers against his cheek. “I’m right here.”
She shifted a leg up onto the bed, leaning forward to rest her forehead against his.
“I thought I’d lost you.”
“I’m right here,” he whispered again. “Ghost said you saved my life.”
She made a strangled sound, half laugh and half sob. “I couldn’t let you go like that.”
Soap shifted his hand to her face, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Well,” he said. “If you remember, I was a bit out of my mind.” He tilted her chin up gently, whispering “Care to give me another taste of those lifesaving powers of yours?”
Daniela lunged forward, sealing her lips to his. Soap eyes slid shut as he grinned, pulling her closer. Her mouth opened against his, and he ran his tongue against hers. When she whimpered into his mouth, the primal need to have her close overcame him. He leaned up as far as he could, cursing the sling on his left shoulder, chasing her mouth. His hand moved to the back of her neck, holding her against him. She straddled him carefully, elbows coming to rest above his shoulders.
Her whole body shuddered when his hand came to rest on her hip.
His eyes snapped open. “I’m sorry-”
“No,” she cut him off, panting. She reached one hand up, threading her fingers through his mohawk. “There’s no reason.” Soap groaned when her nails lightly scratched his scalp.
“Woman, the things I would do to you if I wasn’t stuck in this bed…”
She shuddered again before she leaned down and kissed the place that his jaw and neck met. His whole body involuntarily arched off the bed, hand moving from her hip to the small of her back to pull her against him. She gasped at the contact. However light she was, her weight on his hip hurt. But he was too far gone to care. He leaned up again, gently sucking her lip between his as she sighed into his mouth.
His mind was clouded with the desire for intimacy with her. He wanted all of her. First in their single shared night, and now in their kiss, Soap saw waking up to her every morning, cooking together, trips to the stormy Scottish coast and the sunny Caribbean. He’d been drawn to her from the moment he saw her, and he knew from the way she looked at him that she’d been drawn to him just as much. He’d tried so hard to remain professional. To keep distance. To be a gentleman. To pretend he hadn’t fallen in love with her the moment he heard her speak.
Then she’d slept in his cot and he’d had to know what it was like to have her in his arms. Having tasted her once, there was no going back to professional and distant. Having tasted her twice? She owned him. There was no pretending, now.
His train of thought was interrupted by a sharp cough from the doorway. Daniela sprang up, scrambling off the bed with one hand covering her mouth. Soap’s head whipped toward the door. Ghost was there, finding something very interesting to look at in the ceiling, along with a pretty nurse who was smiling widely.
“Glad to see you’re feeling better, Sergeant,” she quipped. Soap grinned wryly first at her, then at Daniela. “My name’s Cat, I’m a friend of Kate’s. Mind if I take a look at you?”
Soap nodded, Daniela sat herself in the corner, and Ghost continued to pay close attention to the ceiling and walls. Soap narrowed his eyes, watching the Lieutenant closely.
Cat turned to Daniela and Ghost. “Would you two-”
“They can stay,” Soap cut her off. Cat turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. He smiled. “Nothing they haven’t seen already.” When she helped him sit up and lift his gown off, Soap got his first real look at the damage. At Los Vaqueros safe house, and then later at their base, he’d been too rushed and too tired to really look at himself.
Purple bruises so dark they nearly looked black covered his ribs. Just above his boxers, he could see more bruising on his hip that was nearly green now. Scrapes and cuts covered his knees, his arms, his sides. The bullet wound in his right arm was healing nicely, but the skin around it was still pink and tender. He was grateful that his chest was wrapped tightly so he couldn’t see the damage from Ghost’s sniper.
Soap looked away.
“So Cat,” he asked. “How did you meet Laswell?”
“Oh, she and I met probably fifteen years ago. She was still on the field, back then. I was still in training, working in a field hospital. I patched her and John up after a rough mission. I guess she decided she liked me, because as soon as I graduated, she snapped me right up.” She turned to Ghost, who had finally looked her way, and smiled. “Good thing, too. I’ve fixed this one up more times than I can count, and Kate tells me he won’t let anyone else touch him.”
Ghost looked away again so quickly that he missed Soap’s gleeful expression. “Oh, is that so?” teased Soap. Ghost shot him a warning glare. Something to ask about later.
“I trust her,” muttered Ghost.
Cat beamed at him. She looked back to Soap, smiling conspiratorially. “Quite the compliment, eh?”
“That it is,” he answered smugly. Ghost held his stare, unamused. Soap looked back toward Daniela, eyes softening. She smiled back at him, looking tired but content. Cat was wrapping up her check, talking about physical therapy and taking it easy. Soap couldn’t wait to have a moment with Daniela again.
“Alright, well I’ll be back tonight to check in with you again. Simon, would you walk me out?” Soap’s eyes shot back to Ghost at that, but Ghost refused to meet his gaze. Definitely something to ask about later.
When Cat and Ghost had gone, Daniela came back to Soap’s side, sitting carefully on the edge of the bed. She gently took his left hand, careful not to lift it or otherwise disturb the bandages.
“Take all the time you need,” Soap said softly. Daniela lifted her eyes from their joined hands, cocking her head. He held her gaze. “You said I’d have to give you some time to figure it out. Take all the time you need.” Now it was Soap’s turn to look down at their hands. He grinned, lopsided. “I’ll be here.”
Daniela reached out, lifting his chin with her fingertips. Her dark eyes watered slightly around the edges. “I’m pretty sure,” she whispered.
“Oh, now that sounds familiar,” chuckled Soap. He leaned toward her, eyes flitting down to her lips. “C’mere, you.”
Their first kiss had been desperate. Their second quickly turned heated. This one was soft, slow, gentle. Exploratory and sweet. Soap stroked her cheek, looking up at her from under hooded eyes. “Tell me you feel it, too,” he whispered.
Daniela nodded, leaning forward to rest her forehead against his. “I feel it.”
“Yeah? Not just ‘maybe’?”
Daniela smiled wide, smacking his shoulder lightly. Soap laughed, loud and full, and immediately regretted it. Wincing, he smiled back at her.
He was anxious to hear from Price and Gaz, and nervous about what would happen when Alejandro and Rodolfo called Daniela back. They’d have to go after Shepherd, and she might have to go back to Mexico. Maybe nothing would ever truly have a chance to start with them. Maybe they’d die. But maybe not. Maybe everything would be alright.
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Stories To Be Told: PART 29
Series Index
A shadowsinger, a warrior, an Illyrian, that's what she was. Trained by one of the most formidable female warriors. Escaped the Illyrian camps and her clipping when she was barely sixteen and is now the holder of 6 siphons. What happens when she tries to sneak into the City of Starlight? And starts down a whole new road of chaos?
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a/n: warning for like… extremely fluffy things. is that a warning? idk. but like… the author, me, squealed while writing this part.
this was combined with the epilogue i planned since it was too short. so that huge time skip? yeah.
BUT, since this is the last chapter… I want to thank everyone who came around while writing this series. Thank you all for your support, whether you were commenting, reblogging or just liking- it means a ton. This story wasn’t originally going to be posted online. It was a rewrite based off of a 115k word fic I wrote. well… not really. That one had extreme inconsistencies, and very limited character development. It was set post-acomaf, where all canon plot ended basically. I much prefer this post-acosf version.
I'm always very nervous posting online, so getting all the support I got for stbt? It means the world to me. I can’t express how much all the support just made my day. Thank you readers, from the bottom of my heart.
After this, I’ll try to work on either a new series, or some oneshots, but I beg of you, please send requests. I am incapable of coming up with ideas to post 😂 (okay, im not, but it helps)
If you have read all that, here’s a little vote for a new series: Azris fic (or another rare pair/crackship)? or new x Reader/OC fic (probably eris)? Something else?
Not guaranteeing I’ll write any of them, but just to gauge what ya’ll might like to see
Now… onto the last chapter of Stories To Be Told :)
WARNING: mentions of nsfw things.
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Azriel and I didn’t come to training the day after either, both of us waking up way too late to even dare try and go. They’d probably be doing the final stretching before we’d even be ready. So we settled for a slow morning, memorizing each other’s lips.
We had, however, arrived for lunch. Nobody had said anything, but I could tell what they were all thinking. We had taken a bath before we left the room, but I knew that the bond could probably be scented quite easily now.
That afternoon, Azriel had to do some paperwork, but I relaxed with him, reading a book, surrounded by his scent. A note arrived sometime.
Family dinner tonight at the River House. See you both there.
Azriel scoffed. I lifted a brow at him in question. “Rhys,” he explained, “wants us to attend a family dinner. Clearly, Cassian told him something, because he said ‘See you both there’ like he knows.”
I chuckled a little. “Does he need to pay for traumatizing you too, my love?”
“By the Cauldron, yes. Him and Feyre, I swear. I have just been suffering. The only thing that did go right was that Cassian was the one brawling with Rhys after their bond. I was saved from some bruises.”
“Oh,” I paused. “I forgot about that part. And they what?!”
“Which part?”
“The part about bonds where the males get really… protective.”
Azriel snorted. “I’ll try my best at this dinner, angel, but do offer me some leniency.”
“As long as you offer me the same leniency, because I am one hundred percent laughing my ass off if you growl at Rhys."
He rolled his eyes. “I won’t growl at him-”
-----
Azriel growled deeply as we walked into the dining room. Rhys’s eyes had been up and looking for us, latching onto me, since I’d been the first to enter.
I snorted, and patted Azriel’s shoulder.
Rhys tipped his head back and laughed. “Alright, Cass, you win,” he chuckled. “You were right about Az being a possessive type.” A gold mark was thrown in the direction of the general, who quickly pocketed it.
I huffed out a breath in amusement and spotted Mor looking quite confused. Oh, this was my chance!
I left Azriel’s side, even as he glared daggers at Cassian, who was sitting near Mor. Mor’s eyes did indeed practically pop out of her skull when I came near enough.
“YOU’RE MATES?!” She squealed.
My face widened into a grin and I nodded.
She let out another happy squealing noise, throwing her arms around me. Azriel growled again and I laughed, backing up a step so that Mor was forced to let me go. She was smiling at me. “Oh! I’m so happy for you!” She squealed again suddenly, startling me slightly. “Welcome to the family!” She said quickly. “I was first!”
I turned my face again slightly in a useless effort to hide my huge smile from those words. Azriel curled a hand around my waist. “This is your family now,” he whispered.
I lifted a hand to rub my smile away, but it didn’t work. So I turned to behold my new family.
Rhys was grinning, with Feyre looking at me warmly. Nyx was obviously happy. “Does that mean I have a new aunt?” He asked Rhys.
“I suppose so,” Rhys chuckled. “But ask Y/N.”
I bit my lip. There was so much joy coming from me right now. Nyx turned to me expectantly.
“If you want me to be…” I replied. “You can call me aunt.”
“Yes!” Nyx threw up a fist in victory. “Auntie Y/N! Now you have to help me steal all the chocolate dad hides in the pantry.”
I snorted in amusement, giggling softly. “Alright Nyx.”
“Don’t conspire in front of me!” Rhys exclaimed.
“Did we just conspire?” I asked Nyx. He shook his head, smiling wide. “See Rhys?” I turned to face the High Lord. “We didn’t conspire anything. You must be hearing things.”
“Welcome to the family,” Cassian hummed, arm thrown over Nesta’s shoulder who sat beside him. “I would come over there and bowl you to the ground in a hug, but you have a possessive shadow death monster attached to you.”
That broke the last of the restraint I had on my laughter. I wheezed loudly, knees going weak from the force of it. My chest heaved as I tried to catch my breath, but almost everyone had joined in. Even Az. Nesta stood and came over. Azriel almost growled a warning, but I slapped his shoulder, stepping out from his grip to hug my sister. My first family here.
There weren’t any words shared between us, but as Nes pulled away, she gave me a soft look that said everything.
Amren gave me a little dip of her head, and I deduced that was likely all I was going to get from her. Lucien and Elain, two people who’d I mostly forgotten about, also gave me slight smiles. They seemed… close, but also not as close as any of the mated couples in the room.
I sat beside Azriel at the table, and ate with my new family.
-----
Later in the night, when mostly everyone had gone home, Azriel asked me the question.
“I know I’m traditionally meant to kneel down before you,” he began. “But I haven’t had the chance to buy a ring yet, so I’ll do that a bit later since I’m impatient. Would you marry me Y/N?”
I squealed immediately, turning so that I was sitting in his lap and wrapping my arms around his neck. “Yes!” I said loudly, drawing the attention of the remaining people in the room. Rhys, Feyre, Nyx, Cassian, and Nesta.
I kissed him swiftly, which probably gave the others enough of a guess of what had just transpired.
“We are having a wedding,” I told him. “Family only.”
Azriel grinned. “Whatever you want, angel.”
“AUNTIE Y/N!” Nyx exclaimed loudly, like it was a celebration.
I turned, grinning widely. “Officially,” I agreed.
Rhys smiled, his teeth showing. “Congratulations,” he said.
Feyre scoffed. “You’re so dull Rhys,” she admonished, bursting from her seat to wrap me in a hug. “Congratulations. Welcome to the family.”
“I was just trying not to get attacked!” Rhys protested. “Azzie is terrifying.”
I huffed in amusement. “Azzie?” I questioned, turning back to my mate with a smirk.
He snorted. “You are not calling me that,” he chuckled. “Rhys gets to do it only once a month.”
“Azzie…” I cooed, and paired the nickname with a scratch at his scalp. He seemed to be placated, but glared up at me petulantly.
“I’m getting bowled over,” someone said from behind me, and then wrapped two large muscled arms around my shoulders, lifting me up. I squealed at the movement, crushing my wings to my back. Cassian laughed as Azriel got to his feet immediately, eyes darting around like he was trying to deduce the easiest way to free me from Cassian, without hurting me.
I slapped Cassian’s arm. “You idiot!” I yelled happily as he only tightened his grip. “I yield!” I shouted. “I yield!”
Cassian squeezed even tighter for a moment before he let me down. I turned to him with a challenging grin.
“I have another sister,” he reasoned. “I had to make sure she knows I give good hugs.”
“You call that a hug?” I scoffed, grinning. “I prefer Az’s.”
There was a sound behind me that told me Az agreed with me. He took his seat again, the couch dipping.
“Well then,” Cassian said, voice challenging. “I guess I have to try again. Because I always give the best hugs-”
I dodged his next attempt, shooting out my foot as he took a step forward so that he tripped right onto the couch, face planting almost directly into Azriel’s lap. I was surprised when I felt a surge of possessiveness from myself at the sight of Cassian so close to my mate’s lap.
Cassian was laughing and sputtering as he stood back up. “I’m making you pay for that in training,” he growled.
Those words made a bolt of heat travel up my spine. Goddamn, had Azriel really ruined those words for me? Must have.
I tried to keep my scent in check as I coughed. “Sure you will,” I challenged. “I’ll win.”
“You can try,” Cassian scoffed. “I always win.”
“I’ll win because Nesta is on my side,” I chuckled, meeting Cassian’s mate’s eyes across the room, still sitting on the couch with a twinkle of amusement in her eyes.
Cassian turned with a look of betrayal on his face. “How dare you!” He accused dramatically.
I chuckled, and fell back onto the couch beside Azriel. “Love you,” I chuckled, kissing him gently.
His hand fell onto my thigh, just a little too high to be normal. “I felt that through the bond, you know,” he informed me as I pulled away.
I blushed. “Shut up,” I growled. “Or I’ll show them where you’re ticklish.”
He paused, narrowing his eyes. “You wouldn’t dare,” he said playfully.
“Oh I will,” I said.
Azriel trailed his hand up threateningly, and I basically leapt up on top of him, and went for the ticklish spot in his armpit. He wheezed, capturing the attention of everyone.
“That’s where you’re ticklish!?” Cassian exclaimed. “Damn it. I’m exploiting that.”
I grinned as Azriel’s eyes widened even as he struggled to get my hands away from his ticklish spot. “I’ll kill you,” Azriel managed through his laughter.
“Not intimidating,” Cassian chuckled. “You’ve used the line too much.”
I relented after a moment. Azriel heaved for breath, glaring at me. He leaned up to whisper in my ears.
“You’ll pay for that.”
I grinned. I planned on it.
-----
It was the Winter Solstice, and goddamn was it cold outside. I heard a shout as Rhys assumingly got pummeled by snowballs by Cassian. No surprise there. Cassian apparently had been “training” for the annual snowball fight my mate and his brother’s had every year. As I gathered up my own snowballs to launch my attack on Cassian, I smirked in the direction of Azriel’s snow fort.
We weren’t explicitly teaming per say, but we were acting as tentative allies. That little peace treaty would break as soon as Cassian began to complain about his toes freezing off.
Az had mentioned this tradition about a month ago, explaining Cassian’s training, and Rhys’s determination to beat him. Apparently, my mate was by far the most competitive for the fight. He’d won basically every fight leading up to this one. Rhys and Cass had quite a few wins, but Azriel? Azriel definitely had the most.
I offhandedly mentioned that if I were a part of the snowball fight, I’d go straight for Rhys’s face and then pummel Cassian. Then deal with Az.
Azriel, apparently, having taken that internally, offered to let me join. His brother’s mates hadn’t been interested in being out in the cold for hours, but me? Oh I was so for it. No magic. No wings. Just an even playing ground for the Illyrian idiots who just wanted to pummel each other with snowballs.
Rhys immediately let me in on it, even trying to covet an alliance with me throughout the month, but little did he know that Azriel would be getting my “support” through the game. He’d gasped dramatically when I told him I was betraying him right after he’d told me all the strategies he planned to use. Oh, it was so worth it. Now I knew the High Lord was worried, and preparing for that strike that would end him, coming from me.
Cassian shouted as the snowballs hit him from behind his fort. “Y/N!” He shouted angrily. But a playful angry. “I’m going to get you for that!”
“Just try!” I challenged.
For another three hours, we fought. When it was basically just Azriel and I, I turned on him immediately, gaining the element of surprise as I came up behind him and stuffed a whole pile of snowballs right down the back of his leathers.
He screeched and tried to shimmy them out.
“Betrayer!” He shouted, apparently giving up on getting the snow out, and intent on getting revenge. He picked up a pre-made snowball, but I merely smirked and produced one last snowball in my hand, and threw it directly into his forehead.
Azriel groaned, wiping his face. “I’m fucking freezing,” he admitted.
“Do you yield?” I asked him, and subtly packed another pile of snow together with my boots to easily form into a snowball and throw it at him if he didn’t.
“Fine, yes,” he groaned. I grinned.
“RHYS! CASS!” I called. “YIELD OR DIE UNDER THE POWER OF Y/N!”
“I yield!” Cassian yelled back. “My ass is numb.” The second part was quieter, but just loud enough to be heard.
“Never!” Rhys shouted.
I stole some of my mate's snowballs, holding them with one arm and leaped over the fort, running across No Man’s Land. Then I leaped straight into Rhys’s fort and pummeled him with the snow.
He screamed dramatically. I smirked, and then gathered more ammo, and stuffed it down his neck as he tried to clear his vision. “I yield!” he shouted. “Fucking hell! No! Don’t stuff it down my shirt even more-”
I chuckled, and then with one final push of the snow down his shirt, I stood and vaulted over the fort again, hands raised in victory.
“FIRST WIN!” I shouted, laughing hysterically after.
Cassian came out of his fort, shivering. Azriel was still struggling with the snow down his shirt. Rhys basically dragged himself out of his fort.
“Too cold,” Cassian said, “to care.”
I rolled my eyes, scoffing. “Come on then idiot. Your mate can console you for your horrible loss.”
“This is horrible!” Cassian complained.
“Let’s go to the damn birchin before my toes decide to fall off,” Rhys said, shivering as well.
We’d decided before that they’d not go in completely naked, despite tradition. Azriel was way too possessive for that. They’d keep their undershorts and I’d keep on my undergarments.
“Who won?” Nesta asked as we came inside. Her stomach was just slightly starting to get that little bump that told everyone she was having a child. I silently hoped for a little girl.
“I did!” I announced triumphantly. “These males stood no chance.”
Feyre snorted in amusement. Gwyn clasped me on my back. “Better you than them,” she joked. Emerie, who was beside Mor, called out a congratulations.
“You guys should compete next year,” I suggested. “We’d be the height of competition.”
“Freezing in the cold for hours?” Emerie asked. “No thank you. Not even on a good day.”
“Boring,” I teased. “Is Mor making you soft dear sister?”
“Shall I slap her?” Mor asked.
“No, I’ll make her pay for it in training,” Emerie chuckled.
“Just try me,” I challenged. “Just try.”
“Oh I will,” Emerie chuckled. “Now go sweat with the other idiots.”
Azriel chuckled, putting a hand around my waist and leading me in the direction of the birchin. “Come on love, I’m freezing still.”
“Fine…” I would be merciful… today. I pecked Azriel on his cheek gently. “Only for you.”
“Oh yes,” he chuckled. “So merciful towards your mate.”
I scoffed, smiling. “Love you.”
He smiled, and said that little phrase that always left me breathless from the sheer love.
“It’ll always be you.”
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