Call of Duty Imagines: Captain Price

Cold

Taking the compound in Georgia was hard enough, but upon completing the mission blizzard set in. You'd been worried about the weather before the mission, but Price had insisted now was the time to strike before the Ultranationalists took advantage of their hesitance. Now the snow was coming down hard, and visibility was down to mere feet.

"Evac isn't coming," said Price lowly. 

Gaz looked up with his brow creased, though Ghost, sitting behind him, barely looked phased. "What's the plan, now?" 

The Captain looked outside. "We assign patrols, make sure everything stays quiet, and wait until this blows over so we can get our arses out of here." He sighed quietly and looked at you. "(Y/N), Gaz, Stevens, and Griffin, you're on first patrol," he said.

You folded your arms, trying to preserve the heat in your torso. "On it, sir." Gaz strode behind you slowly, reaching round to pull your hat over your eyes. You pulled it off and swatted at him, sending him hopping away with a chuckle. As you pulled it back on your head, you noticed Price watching you. You tried to ignore it, but something about it left a fluttery feeling in your stomach. 

The flurries were getting worse. You couldn't see but a few feet in front of you, and you could hardly make out Griffin's silhouette up ahead. Damn. These patrols likely weren't going to be doing much. You took one glance to your left, thinking you'd heard something, then looked ahead again.

The patrol was gone. 

"Shit." You picked up your pace, starting to panic. You couldn't see anyone ahead, and worse, you weren't sure if you could make it back. Your footprints were disappearing by the second. "Gaz?" you called over the com. "I lost you and the group. Where are you guys, over?"

"Copy. Flashing our torches," he replied. "Watch your step, there's some bad ice out here."

You strained to see but didn't see any flashing. You continued forward, and finally made out the slightest bit of light through the snow. Relieved, you picked up your pace.

There was a sound similar to a sci-fi weapon firing, tailed by a deep crackling. You only registered the sound after you took one more step and it sank through the ground. Before you could catch yourself, you fell through a sheet of ice into a deep lake. You cried out at the sudden fall into the cold and flailed, trying to keep your head up. Gaz shouted your name, but you couldn't see him, and the ice continued to break under your arms as you tried to climb out. The water was swelling around your neck and the icy fingers of the depths began to drag you down by your frantically kicking feet.

Then your head went under. You were tired, but the sting of suffocation in your lungs drove you to claw for the surface. Your head hurt from the cold, it felt like someone was pressing hard on your temples and your eyes were about to burst from your skull. You couldn't break the surface, and you let out a large trail of bubbles from your mouth in an attempt to cry.

At that moment, you realized that you were going to die. You hadn't gotten that next promotion, you hadn't gotten to see the end of the war, and worst of all, you'd never admitted to Price how you'd felt. God... You were going to die, and he'd never know that you'd noticed every lingering gaze, every quiet encouragement... Nothing...

Suddenly you were yanked from the ice, and Gaz pulled you onto the snowy bank. You weren't even shaking, it was so cold. All you could do is suck in choked breaths as the others rubbed on your arms and legs to warm you.

"Price!" called Gaz into the com. "We're heading back, there's been an accident. (Y/N)..."

You could hardly hear him. Your eyes rolled into the back of your head, and everything went black.

Something didn't seem right when you started to wake up again. You were comfortably warm, cozy, even. But the blankets clung to you differently than normal. You continued to lay there, taking in your surrounding with your eyes closed, and you realized, you weren't wearing clothes. Your eyes snapped open at another realization: someone was holding on to you.

You looked over your shoulder, and barely made out the side of John's face. Your pulse throbbed in your throat and you felt uncertain as to what to do next. Did you say something? Did you stay still? Did you run away?  Wait, why were you even there in the first place?

"Shhh," he crooned, his eyes still closed. "You're alright."

Your eyes flickered up and down his face. "What am I doing here? A-and why am I naked..?"

His blue eyes opened sleepily to meet yours. "Couldn't let you stay in those wet clothes. You'd never get warm." When you gave him a horrified look he propped himself up on an elbow. "Don't fret, I didn't look."

"How did you not look?"

"Alright, fine, I looked a little..." He smirked, closing his eyes again. "But it wasn't for fun, I promise." John put his hand on your shoulder. "But I brought you in here to warm up. No one but Stevens wanted to get close enough to you to share body heat, and I don't trust Stevens that much."

You chuckled quietly and relaxed a little more at his touch. He stayed quiet and you decided to roll over to face him. As you did, you realized that the blanket around you didn't cover him. He'd used it to make a barrier between you both, and you couldn't help but feel a little safer. You looked him over; he was wearing a tee-shirt and presumably shorts, though you couldn't quite tell. Gingerly, you traced your fingertips along his chest. 

He opened his eyes and looked at you. Surprised by the touch, his heart started pounding, and aside from his now-heaving chest, he didn't move. Your touch was so gentle, it would have frightened him if he wasn't already so excited. When you smoothed your hand over his side he tipped your chin up with his fingertips; the doll-like expression on your face was unbearable.

John pulled you closer for a kiss. You seemed to melt in his arms and he squeezed you tighter. He was comfortingly warm, and his smell was heady and soothing. You put your hand on his neck and could feel his heart beating wildly.

He pulled back from the kiss and rest his forehead against yours. "... You have no idea how scared I was tonight when I heard what happened."

"You? Scared?" you hummed playfully. "You don't strike me as the kind to not be composed."

John's eyes met yours and there was a deeply wearied expression in them. "You could have died tonight, (Y/N). And if that had happened, I couldn't live with myself. All the things I never said, and..."

You hushed him and pulled him back into another kiss. "I'm still here, you don't need to worry." You grinned to yourself and continued, "And now you can say all those things you never got to say."

He pressed his face into your neck, laying still for a couple of heartbeats before kissing it and murmuring quietly. 

"I think I'm falling for you."