Don't fear the reaper - Captain John Price

XXXVIII

The sun rays were knocking on the bedroom windows as if waiting for an invitation, trying to sneak through the dark curtains. Darkness and cold disappeared overnight, as the sun was warming up everything around on the wintery day. The reflecting lights were entering the apartment and getting into every corner they could.

A thin layer of dust covered the wooden furniture in the captain's house that was waiting for him to come back from another deployment. The quietness was traveling from one room to another, at the end of the day, at least something in the city full of rush and lonely people was waiting for Price. Even the apartment never felt like home to him before. Rare times when the walls of the apartment saw anyone except the man were left blurry in his memory if even remembered. And now, the smell of the breakfast was escaping out of the kitchen into the other rooms of the flat, letting the man know that it was finally time to leave the warmth of the bed. Maybe, if he had never joined SAS, John could afford to feel the soft emotions and taste the happiness everyone was talking about on Saturday night in the pub. The thick smoke of the cigar rose up in the air, as the captain opened the dark curtains and finally started his day. The gaze of the blue eyes walked along the narrow streets, watching the people running into their daily routines. Worried people in business running to the office, elders not rushing anymore, and lovers enjoying the now. Maybe in another life, they could be like them. But the reality was way too harsh.

The soft humming sounds were escaping out of Amelia's lips as she was bringing the unknown to the walls of the kitchen melody out of her head. A pancake was sitting on the top of the skilled after being saved from covering with the burned hardness. The two porcelain white plates were sitting on the top of the wooden table, as no words were flying in the air that morning. Price was going through one of these days when all he wanted to do was to bury his head in the piles of documents in his office, but the man sat down on the squicky chair instead, watching a woman who took over his kitchen, and maybe reserved a spot in his mind. The heat of the stove momentarily disappeared, as the skillet left its surface just to meet with the coldness of the sink.

"It's Lily's birthday today," Eventually, the sounds of the forks dancing on the plates were interrupted by the whisper of the woman. Brown eyes fell on the calendar, realizing how different this very same day was three years ago. It felt as if her past was never a part of her, but a story Amelia read so long ago and left a book on the highest shelf never to be seen again.

"Who's Lily, dove?" Price let the fork sit in his hand, as their eyes met in eye contact for the first time on the sunny morning. He always seen the light in the oceans of brown looking back at him, but this time something was different. The gaze of her eyes was hiding the light of pain from the whole world.

"My niece," Another piece of pancake disappeared from the woman's lips, as the sugar rush in her body was fighting with the wave of sadness that had taken her over in the blink of an eye.

Knight's phone was sitting on the other side of the table. The missed phone calls from her parents turned into a collection, and even the bright display was unable to count them. A brunette was catching herself thinking that maybe it would be better if her family thought she was already dead. Any of the missions can turn wrongly at any moment, leaving her with nothing but a pool of blood on the floor. Unexpectedly to anyone, her active self became a ghost after joining the army, but everything changed even more after Soap's death. The shades of pink disappeared out of her face instantly, just to be taken over by the shades of blue in her soul. Price knew that feeling, but he never tasted other life except for the forces. They were so different, with different life choices, past and even present. But yet, the silence in the presence of each other was the best therapist in town for the two.

"Do you want me to give you a ride to your sister's place sometime?" The eyes of the man looked at the screen of her phone, just to see another message that was meant to be left unanswered.

The people we love are always our weakest point, and Price knew that she was hurting herself by keeping them in a safe spot of no contact. At the end of the day, their job was too complicated to explain to an outsider. Every bit of information can be used against the soldier, sergeant, lieutenant, or even the general. Even the grumpiest and angriest soldier at least once had someone who kept a smile on his face. Getting the information through hurting the loved ones wasn't unusual, especially when dealing with the biggest assholes our world has seen. The price for their peace was way too high, but the pain was easier to carry than the blame.

"No, no, no. Maybe after this all is over," A silver fork grabbed another slice of the pancake, but landed on the wooden surface of the table as the nauseous feeling took Amelia over from all the thoughts that were spinning in her head that morning. She whispered to her own self, finally letting the last piece of the pancake escape out of the plate."I can't risk them."

"I'm glad you're keeping your loved ones safe, even by keeping the distance," John let his rough hand brush over hers just for a spare moment, knowing that no words of his could bring a woman to peace with her own self as he grabbed the two plates and let them join the skillet in the sink. The palm of the captain was rubbing Amelia's back over the fabric of his own shirt.

Knight knew how to heal other people's wounds and traumas with the medical equipment. Price lived with the war inside of his mind and his body running from one battleground to another. They both offered a balm for the old wounds that were not seen on the skin of each other.

But not even John could save a brunette from her own self on the darkest day in the lights of the moon.