Four Spirits, One Soul

Ghost of the Past

TW: mentions of dead people, Ghost has a panic attack, him and Poltergeist are re-traumatized, Shepherd's a bastard, cussing.

Author's note: the scene the group finds in this chapter was inspired by @electronic.fish on Tiktok, yes i did get permission to use the idea. also I'm sorry for the long wait, finals and writer's block had me by the throat :')

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POV: Soap

The plane ride was.. much better then most of the others I've taken. Barely any turbulence, and the snacks were better then typical military food. Laswell and Price had gotten intel on Shepherd's last known location, and they were sending in the four of us. Without backup. Guessed they figured it would fit for us to hunt him down. But now, with the plane hatch opening, I'm starting to think maybe they just didn't want to risk the younger sergeants. "Come on Soap, scared of a little parachuting?" I looked over to see Poltergeist looking me up and down with a teasing smirk. "Haud yer wheesht." was my only response. A chuckle was all I got. Ghost was rolling his eyes while König struggled to make sure he was wearing everything right. "Oi big guy, want some help." The familiarity of this whole situation didn't help the churning I felt. I felt like something was off.

-An hour later-

"Soap, you in position?" I couldn't help the playful smirk I had when I said "What, can't wait to stare at my ass L.T.?" I didn't even need his unamused grunt to know that little comment got me glared at. "Stop teasing the guy who's making sure you don't get shot Johnny." That comment snapped my attention back to my target: Poltergeist and König, who were climbing up to a good sniping spot across from us. The house we were supposed to perform recon on was setting everyone on edge. There was just a sense of wrong about the place. Like it could come to life if it wanted. Watching Poltergeist help König get settled in through the scope of my rifle helped settle my nerves a bit. Ghost was providing the major sniper cover, holed up in a cave just barely out of town with a view of the whole place. He was the one who watched over me and König, meanwhile me and König were the ones supervising Poltergeist. Once he helped König get settled in, that is. "I don't get it, this place looks abandoned. There's not even fresh footprints in the mud." 

"Most places we perform recon on look abandoned Soap, did you forget that?" A chuckle was all I offered Ghost in response. König was in position and Poltergeist was heading in, so I needed to focus. I kept my scope on him as he snuck between buildings and down alleyways, his knife raised and ready to strike if needed. Watching him slip into an open window, I mentally ran through my supplies. I had grabbed my med kits, 4 extra clips of ammo, my pistol, and several knives. I allowed myself to scan over the bare-bones town, rumored to be abandoned for years. The air was just barely hot enough to be a nuisance, and the lack of tree cover didn't help, thank god we were here at dawn. The warmth reminded me of misty mornings back in Scotland, my brothers and sisters and some of their kids running around, chasing the goats and chickens. I hadn't been back there since last summer nearly a year ago, I couldn't help but wonder if Spike was still alive, christ knows the old rooster wouldn't go down without a solid fight. 

"Soap, how copy?" Blinking back to reality, it didn't take long for me to respond with "Solid." to Poltergeist's check-in. Refocusing on my scope, I spotted Poltergeist taking to the first stairwell. Seeing how well he moved through reminded me of the one and only snake my mum had let me keep: a grass snake I named Trunk. A small smile passed over my face as I thought back on feeding him. I had named him Trunk because I had found him under a tree trunk and he was quite a stubby little fellow. Shaking my head to refocus, I looked down my scope to relocate Poltergeist, who was moving through the middle floor. That uneasy feeling hadn't settled, it had only gotten steadily worse. But once Poltergeist reached the top floor, I - and König and Ghost - were startled by him radioing "Guys.. All three of you get your asses here now. We've got an issue." 

-a little while later-

"Okay Poltergeist, we're all here. Now what's so important to change the mission plan?" huffed Ghost once he arrived, to which Poltergeist's only response was to silently lead us through the hollow and empty halls of the building directly to the top floor. Arriving at the only door in the top floor, he paused before looking back at me. " Soap, open it." was all he said as he turned around and took point covering the stairs. I was confused, and deep in my gut sat a taunt band ready to snap, but nonetheless I reached forward and opened the door. What awaited us was about 12 people, sat as if they were in a meeting, around a wide table. They were covered in marks and cuts that felt eerily familiar to me, and König stepped forward to check their pulses. Then the band snapped as I turned to see Ghost staring in horror at the injuries on the dead bodies, his body trembling. That's when I realized why Poltergeist refused to re-enter the room, and where I knew the marks from: they coated Ghost's and Poltergeist's skin in the form of scars.

Now it made sense why Ghost was trembling for the first time and Poltergeist refused to come into he room. Question is, who killed all these people to make a point? And how did they know about Ghost's and Poltergeist's shared past experiences? "That sick bastard.." That was all I could manage to say as I looked over the gruesome scene. Shepherd sure had it out for us all, didn't he. I let König keep inspecting the bodies, as I walk over to Ghost and gently draw his attention away from the scene as my hand reaches up and caresses his cheek. "Easy Ghost, look at me love. Deep breaths, okay? Try to match my breathing." I see Ghost nod, leaning into my hand as I watch him try to match my steadier breathing. Once König could get all the intel he could, the four of us made our way out of the building. Ghost and Poltergeist were unusually quiet, which made me worry. The two deadliest people on the team were acting unusual to how they normally do, and that unsettled me. I understood why they were quiet - no one likes seeing their past reenacted - but it still concerned me just how quiet. We made our way to the lz, heading back to the Hive with our new intel.

~-1177 Words-~