DECEPTION. ("Soap" MacTavish x Reader.)

chapter eighteen.

Some more time passed by and Soap grew concerned by how blacked out his companion was. He just assumed it was just what her body needed, but he also began to wonder how impatient Price was getting. He had studied her face so much to the point he could see it closing his eyes. The only thing he wanted gone from it was the bruise. In these thoughts, Soap's eyes began wandering Y/n's body helplessly -nothing weird-, repeating over something that had caught his attention earlier.

She had a little tattoo on her wrist. 

He had been eyeing it up for the past few minutes but her hand was at an awkward angle. How has he not noticed before? Innocently curious, he decided to gently grab her hand and turn it to get a better view. It was of a text-like smiley face. He grinned at the thought of how she decided to get this. There probably wasn't a meaning to it, but if she got something this simple did she have other tattoos hidden?

Soap began to gently put her hand down, but his breath got caught in his throat when her delicate and warm fingers clutched around his palm. Glancing up at her face, he noticed she was still asleep. Now he was stuck. What should he do? He didn't want someone walking in and seeing this... but he held her hand back regardless, noting how different it felt between giving her hand a massage and this. He liked this feeling more, but under certain circumstances, of course.

Minutes passed by and Veil's hand got loose and began to slowly fall off her lap and from his hand, but Soap didn't allow this. He caught her hand and held onto it a bit tighter than before, knowing he had the chance to go back into his comfortable slouched position in his chair but decided he wanted this more.

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Veil felt very light, her surroundings black. She wanted to wake up, her dream being nothing but a void. She was aware she was sleeping, so she just had to convince herself to open her heavy eyelids. Her senses started to come back. Taste. Smell. Auditory. Touch... she opened her eyes, her lashes fluttering. Sight.

Thankfully the lights were dim, otherwise her whole vision would've probably been the next thing wounded. She stared at the ceiling as she began to realize and remember, looking over at her leg which was elevated. It felt like someone punched her really hard and the area was sore. She acknowledged the mask on her face as well, moving her hand to feel it- well, she tried to at least but her hand was tied back...? It was restricted, and she was curious as to why. She glanced over, her sight taking in what was next to her. Soap MacTavish had his neck angled back -uncomfortably as Veil imagined-, his hand clutching onto hers.

She moved her hand away slowly to not wake up the other, but that small action caused his awakening too.

He squinted and blinked away the sleep from his eyes, hazily looking over at her. His face lit up right away, any signs of tiredness vanishing in the blink of an eye.

"How do you feel?" He was quick to question, examining her face to see if she had a hint of any discomfort.

Y/n motioned to the mask silently and Soap nodded, indicating she could take it off. She slowly removed it, having to catch her breath for a second. "Um... pretty good, actually." She was in the process of taking her leg down, her foot completely numb. Her pants had been swapped with shorts, her stitched-up wound covered by delicate bandaging. "God, my throat..."

This was amusing to the seated male, "How about your leg?"

"Oh, almost forgot," Veil sarcastically commented, smiling over to him once her leg was leveled, slowly shifting. Her tailbone felt numb from the bed. "It's fine."

"Good," Soap commented lowly as he kept his eyes on her wound when she moved, the female now sitting at the edge of the bed.

Y/n stretched her arms, groaning as she did. She felt a sting on her wrists, looking down to spot rope burn on them. She cringed as she remembered the feeling of the knife lodging into her skin, knowing that thought will never leave her. "Am I good to stand up?"

This was a question Johnny thought of as well, "Here, let me go get the medic. Stay here." He got off his seat and then glanced at her before exiting the room and heading toward the office.

Veil took her time to study her condition. Thankfully there was paperwork on a small stand next to her bed, and the papers were instructions for how to take care of her wounds. The cloth on her leg looked clean, so she was confident her stitches were strong and sturdy.

Johnny turned the corner, entering the room with the doctor on his tail.

"How are you feeling Ms. L/n?" The doctor questioned, rubbing his hands after putting on hand sanitizer.

"Not bad. Thank you for helping me out." She watched as the doctor approached her, his focus on her leg.

The old man in the white coat did a dismissive hand movement, "I'm just glad you two were smart enough to keep that knife in, otherwise my job would've been a lot harder." He sat down in the chair Soap was recently in, looking up into her eyes. "Think you can move your leg for me really quick?" She did so, and as much as it hurt, it wasn't dreadful. "Perfect." He pressed down on areas on her leg to see if there were any concerns and gave her a brief explanation on how to tend to her leg, and after that, he stood up.

"Looks like you're good to head back. You'll be needing a crutch for your leg for the next two weeks or so. After that, you should be fine to walk on your own. Now if you have any concerns or questions just come back here and I'll be glad to help." The man grinned at Y/n and wished her a good day before exiting the room.

Y/n began to stand up, Soap rushing to her side, "Need help?"

"Nope, I got it. Thank you, though. I really, really appreciate your help. Like really," Veil met his eyes to prove her sincerity, removing them when she slowly anchored her feet to the ground. She sucked in a breath as she applied pressure from standing up, her leg wobbling a bit but she adjusted herself with the bed. "Can you hand me the crutch?" He did so. "Thanks."

She stood up, with the help of her crutch, then looked over to MacTavish, "I'm good to walk back myself. You probably have other things to do, right?"

As much as it sucked to admit it, she was right. He was already a bit late to see Price, but he felt like it'd all be for nothing if he just left her alone. Y/n noticed his hesitance.

"I think it'd make me feel better to head back myself. Waking up to your company was better than enough. I'll see you later." They had eye contact, hers confident, his reluctant. He told her to come get him for help if she needed it -telling her his room number after-, and she agreed.

"Oh, your room was taken from a newbie, by the way. It was a spare so don't worry, just go to the barracks office and request a new one." He spoke a bit slowly, trying to convince her to let him help. This didn't fool her.

"Thankfully I know where that is. Catch you later," She fist-bumped his chest, balancing on the crutch as she did so. Barracks office. Got it. She trailed after Soap toward the exit and they went their separate ways. Why was Soap so adamant to help her out? She wondered this as she continued her journey.

Sadly, the room request didn't go as planned.