Battlefields & Heartstrings

CHAPTER FOUR: Renewal

SO sorry for the wait everyone!! i was away at my great aunt's and then i went back to france so with the road and the fact that i didn't bring my laptop with me to my great aunts, there was a BIG delay on chapter four 😔

sincerest apologies,
- xoxo, knock knock, who's there? door ma'am, door ma'am who? i've come to bargain (yes im a marvel girly 🩷🤞)

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(johnny)
"John...wake up..." a voice rings in his head, a soft, somewhat angelic voice rings in there.
"Come on, Johnny...wake up...for me..." it speaks again, softly. I can't name or picture who is talking, but it sounds so beautiful. Its' charm and warmth reminds me of my mother's when I was only a child.

"Johnny? Wakey wakey, soldier." The voice sounds real and close this time but it sounds like my sister's.

"Leese?" John asks, slowly opening his eyes as he realises where he is. The medical bay. The beeping of the heart monitor gave it away. Were my wounds that bad?

"No, it's Kate, you nimbus." I flick his arm.
"Leese and I donnae even sound alike." I chuckle.

"Took you long enough. How are you feeling?" I ask as I sit on the edge of the bed, caressing his hand.

"How...how long have I...been out?" He questions, rubbing his eyes.
"...15 years..." I look at him with worry.
"I'm fuckin' wit' ya, it's only been a few hours. I'd say 3 to 4 hours." I joke.

"Wha...what about the mission?" He's asking questions that have nothing to do with his health and safety and that really annoys me.
"Jeez, it went well. Apparently you got the target." I blurt out, wanting to be done with it.

"Apparently?" He raises an eyebrow.
"I haven't gone back on the field since I saved you. Word gets around quickly here." I admit.
"You...stayed here?" He questions again.

"Well, yeah...wasn't gonna abandon my brother now, was I?" I laugh, finding it almost ridiculous that he asks.

He chuckles awkwardly with me...only to realise he had left Ghost on the field with no bomb specialist when we were literally facing a maniac who happened to engineer bombs.
This had to be personal.
There had to be a reason why I was the only one who got injured brutally. True, we were getting shot at from the front line but someone approached me from behind and attacked me personally.
That's gotta mean something, no?

No.
No, no.
I've got it.

They knew.
They knew I was the only bomb specialist in the task force. They had inside information on us, on me. We never had the upper hand, they always did.

John's train of thought stops when Price opens the door to the room he's staying in. I get up in one quick movement.

"Captain." I stand in front of him at attention.

"Kathleen, easy. How is he?" Price asks as he takes off his hat out of politeness.

"Good. He's just resting." I answer for him, out of politeness.

"They...they knew." Johnny mumbles.
"What?" I look back at him.
"They knew." He stares at us both, hoping repeating it can make it clearer.

"How? Our information is strictly confidential." Price catches on quickly enough.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. A spy, perhaps?" He guesses.
"A spy?" Price repeats.
"We haven't had any new visitors though." I mumble, thinking it through.
"We always clear out everyone too." Price adds.
"A long-term spy then?" He suggests.
"So, a mole." Price states.
"A mole." I repeat after him.
"But our last recruit rolls back to the last batch of corporals? All were checked last month, no?" I ask, still wondering how it's even possible that we have a mole.

Price turns back on his way to the door.
"You ready for a new mission, Mactavish?" Price asks with a smirk.

"Huh?" I look at him.
"Huh?" He looks at him.

"Should've said the both of you." Price lets out a light chuckle.

"Get some rest sergeants. You've been working yourself hard enough Kate." Price mentions before leaving the room.

"At least we've got some peace now." I sigh.
"You know there's the family reunion in two weeks, aye?" I remind him.

"Yeah yeah, I know...

You think Marcus will be there...?" John asks the question.

"I...I haven't heard from him since..." I hesitate to speak.
"Since dad." He finishes my sentence for me.
My poor little sister, my baby sister...She's still hurt. Gosh, how I wish I could erase it all from her mind and let her at rest for once.
"Yeah, since then. I donnae even know if he's changed numbers or something." I state, feeling some sort of resent.

"Last thing I knew about him, Lessie told me he ran away to a friend's house. I think his name was Ben...
wait no, actually...David...
hold on, no, it's Alex! Got it, his name was Alex." Johnny guesses names.

"A friend, huh?" I give him a wide grin.
"You know, you're not wrong. Less always thought Marcus was...well something. She never got to confirm it though." He smirks back at me.

"Seriously?! He better come to the reunion otherwise I will track him down and find him myself." I threaten my older brother yet still as a joke. She may despise her brother for leaving us so early in life, but I know she hates hurting family even more than him.

"We can always ask Leese. You know she always organises the reunions with Roro."

"That's it! I was gonna call Carol!" John realises something.
"Shit...Do you have your phone, Katz?" He sighs when he can't find his phone nearby.
"Uh yeah, yeah I do." I pull my phone out of my pocket and hand it over to him.

As he dials our older sister's phone number, someone enters the room.

"Kathleen, How is he? Is he okay? Are you okay?" Ghost walks in and looks like he's been on a bloody triathlon.

"I'm right here, ya know?" John raises his voice and leans in forward to peek.
"Second of all, never knew ya so concerned, Lieutenant." He adds on with a smirk on his face.

"Can't lose my best soldier." Ghost sternly says yet with a quiet, exhaling voice.

Oh, what the fuck.
I can feel the heat of adrenaline running through my veins as he says so.
blood rushing to my cheeks,
pursuing through my blood vessels,
feeling like venom yet it doesn't hurt.
Also, why the fuck would he say that?
Ghost isn't that...he's not that kind usually.

"And I'm fine, L.T." Johnny smiles at Ghost.

"Good. When you're done healing, I need you back on the job. Knot, you get as long as well, you need rest." And he's back to being cold.

Damn it, I liked him like that. Oh what the hell! Why am I thinking like this?!

He turns his back and leaves. Still as cold as ever.

"Bawbag." I mumble under my breath.
"Com'on, he's not that bad Katz." He reassures me, trying to convince me in some way.
"He's got ya under some kind of spell, it's infuriatin'." I grit through my teeth. "He's a total douche and ya cannae see it." I sigh.
"Right, I'm gonna go get a drink, I'll be back." I caress his hand and leave.

And now, peace.