Roach

Chapter 25

The ride back to base is silent. Price has an almost grin on his face though the rest of us aren't as excited. Soap looks like he's been trying to figure out what to even say to Price, or what he'd report to Shepherd after Price's insane stunt. Ghost was muttering a little at the beginning of the flight though is now just as silent as the rest of us.

"We'll be landing at an SAS base, regrouping with the rest of the 141." The pilot calls back to us, breaking the silence a little.

Soap checks his watch, "2018..."

"I'll buy dinner," Price says as he stands. He seems to want to pace and the grin he once had is now completely gone.

"I think you've done enough today," Ghost says as he crosses his arms. His eyes are still hidden by his sunglasses, though I can tell he's glaring a bit.

"I just saved the Americans today."

"By launching a nuke? Because--"

"That missile saved American lives. You heard the report. They managed to get rid of the Russian invaders."

"But at what fuckin' cost?!" Ghost stands. I grab his arm, really not wanting to deal with them fighting right before we land.

"Enough. Both of you. What happened, happened." Soap quickly gets up, getting Price and Ghost to sit back down.

"Oh so you're takin' his side?!"

"Ghost." Soap states sternly, causing Ghost to look away and cross his arms again. Soap sighs. "I'll buy dinner and drinks. We'll need to rest up because regardless the war isn't over."

The chopper slows down a little and we feel it descend. When it lands, the others get off first all clearly wanting to be away from all the tension between Ghost and Price. I almost have to drag Ghost off with me, wanting him to take a lap and get some air.

"Captains." Shepherd's stern voice cuts over the light chatter of the other men and the chopper.

"Good luck," I say, glancing back to Price and Soap. 

Ghost suddenly grabs my sleeve and almost drags me away so we can get something to eat. He's starting to mutter again making me worry. He pushes me down, getting me to sit while he gets food for the two of us. When he comes back, he puts down a trey in font of me. 

"That wasn't necessary." I say, "I coulda gotten my own food."

"Sure, but I still wanted to do it." Ghost responds as he pulls his mask off. He almost groans as he runs a hand through his hair.

"You seem more stressed than Soap. You don't take the mask off--"

"Unless I'm stressed. I know."

"So... worried Price will get demoted or something?"

"I...I don't know... I'm still pissed at what happened..."

"But."

"But I don't want us to lose him again. I know I'm in no rush to be captain of this rag tag team."

I chuckle a little, "Rag tag?"

"After we lost Price, it felt like it became rag tag." He smiles a little. "Though I think we still need Price. He held us together, ya know... And I feel like he might of actually lost his mind..."

"Maybe," I start to eat, "But, in theory, he did save a bunch of lives--"

"In theory but it destroyed the ISS, remember?"

"I know..."

"I didn't think that Price was one to 'trade lives'..."

We both go a bit quiet as we eat. Ghost keeps his eyes down, making sure to not look at me. Finally I kick him under the table. "Sulking and being mad won't help. What happened happened. We did our job, which was to cover Price. What Price did with our cover isn't our responsibility. We made sure he didn't get shot."

"I..." Ghost sighs, "I guess you're right..."

"Damn right, now why don't we go get the old man a drink?"

"You think they'd let us go into town now?"

"Don't know but we should hurry." I get up, grabbing my trey. "I'll race ya." I grin, making Ghost chuckle a little. 

Ghost quickly grabs keys for a jeep, leading to us leaving base as fast as we can. He drives us into town, where we stop at a liquor store. I'm glad it's still open considering its a bit after 2100. Ghost comments that any later and we wouldn't of made it in time. We grab some bottles of whiskey, Oban 14 specifically for Price, and a bottle of scotch. After checking out, I drive us back to base. When we pull in Soap is waiting.

"I didn't think we'd have you two of all men sneaking out like this." Soap states though starts to smile. "What'd you two do anyway?"

"Well since we couldn't really go out for dinner, we got drinks." I say, as Ghost holds up the four bottles we got.

"Four? That seems like a lot."

"One for each of us."

Soap chuckles, "'One for each of us'. Well maybe we should take that up with Price. Though we shouldn't go too hard yet, we didn't win the war. Least not tonight."

Ghost and I nod then follow Soap to where Price is. He knocks on the door to one of the supervisors offices then opens it. Price looks up from one of the few desks in the room. It looks like he was reading through a lot of paperwork.

"Didn't think I'd see you again, Ghost." Price says as he stands up.

"Well... Roach convinced me to bring a peace offering." He holds up the bottle of Oban 14.

A huge smile comes over Price's face. "A peace offering that I can really get behind. Thank you Ghost. I didn't think you knew my favorite whiskey." He chuckles, leading to Ghost smiling a bit. He does seem less stressed than he was, which is a plus.

Soap goes and grabs some glasses for us as we start to pour drinks. The group starts to talk more and we update Price on everything that he's missed, from when he was taken to now. He even shares some stories from the gulag and other stories here and there. At some point Price moves back behind the desk, almost sighing.

"So what did Shepherd want?" Ghost questions as we move around Price.

"He wanted to scold me," Price starts, "though was happy that we overall saved lives..."

"He also motioned another mission tomorrow," Soap adds, "That's why we cant stay up all night drinking. No matter how much we want to..."

"Hopefully we will end this war tomorrow..." Price leans back in the chair. "Though I have some fears..."

"Fears sir?" I question. "Like what?"

"Shepherd for one..." He shakes his head. "Just be careful tomorrow."