But it was not your fault but mine, And it was your heart on the line.

Chapter 4 - You're not as brave as you were at the start.

Ghost shoved the skull balaclava over his face before walking into the rec room, crossing his arms and staring menacingly at the small group of people playing cards. One noticed and quickly quieted the others, all of them giving the man their full attention as Soap stepped in behind him.

"If any of you do anything to hinder the healing of his wounds, I will personally see to it that you are punished accordingly and feel the same way that he has to. Gentle with him until the bandages are gone, do you all understand?" Ghost waited for each of them to agree, before turning on his heel and returning to his quarters, nodding at Soap as he passed.

Soap stood sheepishly in the room, the silence deafening as the men just stared for a moment. It felt like minutes before Gaz spoke up, a confused look on his fading as he turned back to the game. "Join us for a round, would you Soap?"

"Aye." He nodded, heading over to the table. The atmosphere was still stiff, but that broke down as the game progressed and jokes floated around the room. Soap was glad nobody had actually inquired about the fact that he had followed Ghost in, or that Ghost had just threatened them all over the protection of his Sergeant. Eventually he mostly forgot about the whole thing, slipping back into the routine of cards and chatter.

- - -

Ghost stepped back into his room, this time locking his door and shutting the drapes. He glanced up at the painting above his bed, recalling how Johnny had stared at it earlier. It wasn't really sentimental for him, he had always just seen it as gorgeous. It was something to look at after missions while he got back into a semi-normal state, it brought him a slight bit of serenity in his otherwise fighting life. The only thing that seemed to replicate it was hanging out with the 141, mainly Soap, but he couldn't just have the man sit with him after missions and talk to him; that would be ridiculous, and disrupt Soap from his normal post-mission routines.

Ghost once again placed the mask on his desk, next to his unfinished paperwork. He would get around to that eventually, but right now his focus was a warm shower to relax his tense muscles and remove the dust that clung to his skin.

- - -

When Simon exited the bathroom, now dressed in some black sweatpants and a long sleeve compression shirt, he walked directly to his bed. He sat down, glancing at the painting before lying down and closing his eyes with no intent to sleep.

Instead he slipped into thought, considering recent events. Johnny willing to fight for him, the way Johnny looked at him while he bandaged, what did it mean? Was he just trying to defend his superior or did he mean something more by it?

They were just found family, that's all he could mean. Protect him like a brother, like he protected his mother. Johnny wouldn't disregard rules that were serious like fraternizing.

Simon certainly wouldn't consider it, no matter how much he enjoyed staring into the pretty blue eyes of the Scot, or how he wanted to be there to bandage any wounds the man ever had. The rules were the rules, and Simon wasn't about to test them further and risk losing his place in the military, his home and only place he felt that he belonged.

After what felt like hours of pondering, Simon got up and decided to be somewhat productive and clean his boots, it had been a while since he had done so and the dirt had started to build up. He took them into his bathroom and pulled out his shining kit, setting it aside while he wet a cloth. He removed the laces and began to wipe the boots down, the previously dusty surface revealing the shiny black leather underneath.

Once he had the sides wiped down, he grabbed a scrub brush and carefully scrubbed the soles of the boots to remove debris stuck in the various divots in the bottom that were there for stability and traction. After he had the caked mud and gravel thoroughly removed, he used some saddle soap and worked it gently into the stiff leather sides with his fingers, only switching to a rag once he had it spread across the entire surface.

Simon set the boots aside to let the leather soak in the soap and began to rinse the laces in some warm water, inspecting them for any tears or cracks. Once he was content with finding none, he used some dish soap and scrubbed them, ensuring there was no leftover dust in the fabric. He rinsed the laces once again and hung them to dry from his towel rack.

He turned his attention back to the boots themselves, wiping them down to assure himself nothing was left on the surface. He then switched to polish, once again using his fingers to spread it evenly across the leather before working it in with a rag.

He left them to sit, opting to let the polish soak in and allow the laces to dry fully. He took to doing paperwork while he waited, getting it out of the way.

- - - - -

A/N: Hi! Thanks for reading. Feel free to point out any grammar errors or give tips. I got real busy, sorry for the late update!! Might upload this on Ao3 soon too, not to worry though, I will still write mainly here. Have a wonderful day/night!! <3

Word Count: ~882