Dogs of War

Chapter 22

We walk out of the jewelry shop an hour later. I had a new charm added to my Dog tags on the opposite side to Ghosts. It was a little bar of Ivory Soap and we'd had Johnny's initials engraved into the back of it. For him, we'd found a little Wolfs head charm. We combined it with a small plaque with my initials engraved on it. Soap was brimming with happiness clearly pleased with his gifts to me. 

"Alright, Uilebheist, we have one more stop. I wanted to rent out the local rock climbing place for yer, but figured with your leg as it is, it was best to visit somewhere else." 

I look up at him consideringly, unable to figure out what he has planned. I get back into the car, watching the scenery pass us by, not having had much of a chance to explore England since I'd gotten here. 

He ends up pulling up in front of a bowling alley/arcade style building. I look at Soap with a raised eyebrow, fingering the new charm hanging on my chain. "Bowling?"

"Aye, lass. When's the last time you've truly had some fun, eh?"

"But bowling? What is this, a teenage date?" I say grinning, slipping out of the car ensuring my facemask is fully up and my ears are covered.

"Are ye not happy with the choice of venue, Uilebheist?"

"I love it," I say, wrapping my hand around his as I practically skip towards the building. 

"I was never very good at bowling as a human though... You'll have to make sure we put the gutter rails up for me." I beam up at Soap, excited to be doing something as simple as bowling, a pleasure I haven't had in a very long time. Feeling spoiled by Soap I lean up, pressing a soft, grateful kiss to his cheek.

"Aye, none of that now, lass." His voice is slightly rough as he grins down at me, pleased that he's managed to make me so happy. "I'm sure you'll be kickin' my arse no worries." He leads me through the door and my ears pick up that the place is suspiciously silent except for a few people to greet us, and a small group of people hiding closer to the back. "Johnny?" I say, my voice soft with suspicion. "What have you done?"

He ignores me, waving a greeting at the lady at the front desk and shoves me deeper into the building with a grin on his face, his heart beat thundering with excitement. As we get closer to the group that I can sense, I finally see whats happened. The entire 141 group is present, ready to surprise me. 

"Happy Birthday!" They all greet in a weirdly choreographed way. 

Bryce steps forward to sweep me off my feet in a massive bear hug that manages to make me feel like my ribs have been crushed. I squeak slightly, the move not giving me any time to reply verbally. "Happy birthday sis." He puts me back down again, only to be replaced by Shanes arms gathering me up. 

"Old bitch," he exclaims, laughing as he squeezes me hard enough that I start to struggle for air. 

"Put me down, you oaf!" Underneath my mask, I'm beaming, not having expected anything like this considering how busy we are trying to hunt down Makarov. Then I notice that Shane isn't wearing his mask as he puts me back down again. 

"Shane! Where's your mask?" I say hissing, his facial features in full view of anyone who decided to wander through.

"Relax, Ceri." Archiels smooth voice calls as she approaches, giving me a much more sedate hug. I realise she's not wearing a mask either. "We have the place hired out for ourselves for today, and the staff are all aware they are not to enter the area."

"Turns out there's unexpected benefits to being Captain of an elite military team," Price smirks as he in turns gives me a brief one armed hug. "Of course, it was all Soaps idea."