A Living Shield (John Price x OC/Reader slowburn)

31) Stubborn to a Fault

"General. Get to the bloody point, now that I'm still askin' nicely."

"I need you to stand down, John, and stop acting so damn righteous. You blatantly ignored my orders. And look where it got you."

"It got me further than if I'd listened to you. Some of us can't justify sittin' on their arses, waitin' on nothin'."

Your eyes darted back and forth. Left to right, and back again. The atmosphere was tense, palpable.

A meeting had been called by General Shepherd, all of you present in some empty conference room, info on the table and intel, from your last chaotic mission, displayed on the digital board at the back-end of the room. Price and Shepherd were both sat on opposite ends of the meeting table, looking anything but pleased nor showing any complacency towards giving in to the other. You and the rest of the team had wisely decided to not sit down and like extra's to an intensely angsty play, you stood at the sidelines. Hoping no one drew any attention to you. In all honesty, this was more a scolding than a meeting. And you'd all known it would come to this eventually, after your tumultuous return with Price injured.

You went against direct orders; infiltrating a compound in Russia, that did not fall under the SAS's jurisdiction, surely didn't make the general happy. Not that you or the others felt truly guilty about it. You'd done what was necessary, whether he would admit it or not. One glance at Ghost to your right and you could see the unimpressed shine as he shot a masked look back at you from the corner of his eyes. Aiming your gaze back forwards you kept your face as neutral as possible, trying to ignore the message he'd ever so clearly given you. Mostly because you'd start scowling in agreement.

'If the old geezer doesn't stop talking soon, I'm throwin' him outta the window.'

Ever since the 141 had learnt of Shepherd's involvement with your old team, even though no one had an idea in what way, their views on him had cooled down drastically. Sure, comradery had always been hard to muster with that man to begin with, but now it was as deserted as a wasteland. Nothing there but unease and distrust even though they hid it well. He was still their superior, maybe not in mind but in title absolutely.

It made this situation not much easier as General Shepherd had somehow called you all together, not to discuss the information. No. He'd called you all here, because he wanted to pause your actions, as he'd stated it.

Shepherd sighed annoyedly, a massive frown on his face as he leaned back in his chair.

"We don't have to make this harder than it needs to be, Captain. It's only until we've checked every detail and loose end and you've recovered. This kind of situation calls for patience and precision. Not haste and reckless infiltration."

The look on Price's face turned eerily sour, irritation subtle yet absolutely there.

"Let me get this clear", Price asked as he folded his hands on the table while leaning forward with a mocking tilt to his head, "You're dismissin' the counter-terrorism taskforce. On a terrorism case. Where's the precision in that, general?"

"No one said anything about dismissing. Do not put words in my mouth."

"Then don't make me fill in the blanks", Price answered with a fake little 'v' smile.

"Listen. You are off the case for now. You got stabbed, John. Take the time to recover, get some damn paperwork done or something. As for your team-", General Shepherd said as he glanced over at your not so enthousiastic teammates, "- I suppose they can be put to good use. I have someone incoming who will help move things along. They can work together."

The look on Price's face was anything but nice as it rippled and moved with a slowly simmering anger. He was not going down quietly and you knew. Neither did you expect him to. Before he could say anything however, Laswell knocked and came in without a word, clearly aware she was expected as she stood in the room, noting the change in atmosphere ever since she left.