#Packy dynamics if you read between the lines

[sfmothdaddy]

Brain rot I guess

Something was wrong with Johnny, Ghost could feel it in his bones. The usually bouncy and bubbly persona of his Sargent had been changed somehow. Sure the lad kept up with jokes, and the playful banter during missions... but something was off. He could feel the man eyes on him constantly, and often it looked like the man was going to say something to him but seemed to change his mind mid thought and shift to a safer topic.

Price had sent Johnny on a mission, a collaboration to bring in more information to take down Makarov, and Ghost couldn't help but feel.... something when he wasn't Johnny's overwatch, but that was neither here nor there. That was just life in the SAS for two Alphas who were good at their jobs. Still didn't mean Ghost couldn't have feelings about it.

Before this last mission, Johnny had gone down to records, something about an issue with some filing. Told Price he wouldn't miss anything, and he'd be right back. Price hadn't been bothered, probably because it was an issue the man found and Johnny just had to sign his life away again, nothing out of the ordinary, surely. When the lad returned he looked the same, had that pre mission determination on his face but to Ghost there was.... something behind his eyes he couldn't quite place.

"JOHNNY!" Ghost screamed, watching his body hit the floor after the gunshot, how could he fucking not. Everything around him happened in slow motion and so fast that he couldn't see at the same time. Bullets were fired as the building shook, Price had to physically push Ghost back out of the room and into cover as that snake slithered away and Johnny's body was burried under rubble. Somewhere Price was switching between barking orders and blaming himself, but Ghost.... Simon could do nothing but stare at the blood on his fingers. Odd that he'd never noticed before.

After immediate exfil, a team was sent back to retrieve Johnny's body. Ghost wanted to go but he wasn't cleared from medical, apparently he'd also been wounded but hadn't felt a thing. How could he? Price thundered into his room the next day, ranting about the higher ups, how they went over his head and Johnny had been cremated, against his last wishes, because there would have been too many questions from his family and it was "better this way". As the man paced, Ghost spoke up. "I want to do the notification if it wasn't done already. I need to.... I need to be the one to tell them." Price nodded, solemnly.

The next day in his dress uniform, both he and Price looked at the cute little cottage and knocked on the door. Idily Simon wondered why Johnny never talked about this place, sure he'd waxed poetic about some things from home, but never said a word about the cottage and attached farm. When the door opened a soft and sweet scent slid out and Simon had to halt the growl in the back of his throat. A woman blinked up at both of them, wearing one of Johnny's old PT shirts and a subtle swell at her stomach. He could feel the color drain from his face as Price cleared his throat. "Mrs McTavish?"

"Och, please I'm still getting used to that. You must be some of John's friends? Come in." He and Price shared a look as they stepped into the home that somehow smelt.... like everything Simon ever wanted.

"Ma'am we've..." Price started, tryingnto find the right words.

"A few days ago, during a mission Johnny was... fatally wounded. Ma'am I'm sorry, Johnny didn't make it." Her eyes laser locked with Simon, but something behind those eyes hardened, not collapsing into grief like he thought they would.

"Johnny's not dead." She shook her head, one hand sliding down over her slight bump. "He's alive."

"Ma'am... we were both there when it happened." Price tried again but she waved him off.

"You don't understand, he is alive no matter what you saw or think you know. I can feel he is alive. Our bond is still in place, I would have felt it break the moment he was dead."

"Bond?" Both Simons and Prices eyes slid up to her unmarked neck.

"Aye, we've been mated fer months, made it official our last cycle." Seemingly feeling their eyes on her neck she rolled her eyes. "We didn't go the traditional route for bites for a reason. But is still 'ave 'is mark on me." She pulled the hem of her shorts up just enough to show off a clear bite mark on her inner thigh. "Our relationship was never quite traditional the the common sense, we were much more... old school about some things."

Price and Simon exchanged glances, this changed things. Something behind Prices eyes turned stubborn and angry all at once. "We didn't know the lad was mated."

"Course you didn't." She waved the words away, "I'm private, and my job makes it hard for me to befriend many...Johnny was the exception. He didn't leave room for ya to say no to 'im." She sighed and sat heavily on the arm of the couch. "He was working up to it, I think. Wanted to invite you all round once this mess with Makarov was over."

Simon stiffened, she knew? "He wasn't supposed to disclose details about-"

Price was cut off when she laughed, "He didn't disclose shit. I'm in intelligence, I know who you are and your movements. I knew the mission brief before Johnny left here." With a soft groan she rubbed her temples. "This is gonna be so much fucking paperwork."

"Who do you work for?"

"I'm American, I work alongside your Kate Laswel, I'm sure she could verify, though I hadn't gotten around to changing my last name at work yet."

"Kate knew about this?"

"No? As far as I'm aware she had no idea of mine and Johnny's involvement went past me being his watcher once while she was in a briefing. As I said, Johnny made it impossible to resist. And while technically fraternization is frowned upon, I'm not SAS so before you try and throw that in my face, know that I'm three steps ahead of you."

She stood and paced behind the couch before pulling out a cell phone from a drawer and making a call. Her voice seemed to slide into something inky and dark, with a Russian lilt as she spoke. "Good morning Colonel, it seems a common enemy has taken something that belongs to me, and I want it back." There was a pause while someone spoke on the other end. "You tell that spineless coward that he has 48 hours to return him to me, or I will burn him and his empire to the ground. He will remember why I was given my name. And if I find out you and your men aided him, you will suffer the same fate. Am I clear? I will see my mate returned to me, or everything will be in flames and there will be nothing left of either of you to send to your families. Your skulls will adorn my wall."

The call ended, and Price blew out a breath. "Damn I miss flip phones and their satisfying ending to phone calls. Now I need to find gear that will fit my bump."

"We will find Johnny." Simon vowed but she shook her head.

"Your government covered this up, do you really think they would give you the authority to go out there and look for someone KIA? No, we both know it. However, I do have a reputation I can use and I will follow through with to get him back. He has a lot that he needs to answer for, including why he hadn't talked to you about me, but that was his one and only ask, that he handles it. So now I must retieve my wayward idiot and bring him home to do what I told him to do weeks ago. Just like a bloody man, make me do all the work."