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Something weird was going on.
The 141 was back at their home base after a long run of back to back missions, taking a breather. Mind you, Soap would have been bored after the first week of forced downtime, if not for the rumours going around.
According to Gaz, as well as various groups of rookies he’d overheard, there was a mysterious stranger around. A stranger who was equally hot and imposing.
This was odd for two reasons: firstly, no one seemed to know who he was; and secondly, Soap hadn’t seen the guy at all so far.
“Mate, I swear we’re not making him up,” Gaz said on the way to the mess hall. “The universe is probably just trying to prevent you from embarrassing yourself in front of the guy, because you would not be able to keep it together.”
Soap glared. “What are you implying, Garrick?”
Gaz shrugged, grinning, “Soap, I’m pretty sure the guy is exactly your type. I’ve seen the kind of men you stare at when we go out, I’m not blind. I’m also very aware of how long your dry spell has been by now.”
Spluttering, Soap replied, “Excuse me? First of all, that’s none of your business-”
The other sergeant just waved him off. “Calm down, I only know because we’ve been on the same missions for the past few months. You think I’m any different?”
What Gaz didn’t know was that he, actually, was different. Soap’s dry spell had very little to do with being away on missions other than the obvious lack of opportunity. But no, even before then, he’d had no drive to find partners for random one night stands for a while.
Gaz didn’t know that Soap was an idiot who had fallen head over heels for the scariest motherfucker they knew. Because as it turned out, Soap’s type was 6’4”, gruff and with a penchant for skull masks.
Unlike most people, Soap had never been afraid of Ghost; he had a healthy respect for the man even before meeting him, because the guy was basically a living legend and the stories got around - even if there was no way of telling which ones were actually true.
Once he did meet him though? He very quickly managed to wriggle his way under Ghost’s gruff exterior. Finding out the taller man liked dad jokes of all things was one of the things that kept him going while trying to get out of Las Almas with a throbbing arm and soaking wet clothes.
What Alejandro had said at the time stayed true - Ghost was still the only one to call him Johnny , and every time he heard him say it, it made his heart skip a beat. Their friendship had only grown while they went after Sheperd, both on and off the field.
While on missions, they communicated nearly wordlessly when they were near each other and with lots of banter when they weren’t, much to Price’s annoyance. He’d long since given up on telling them to keep comms clear, goddammit .
During downtime, the two would often be seen together, often sharing gym time. Soap had learned iron self-control from sparring with Ghost; being thrown around like he weighed nothing really did it for him, sue him.
The only thing he mourned was how bad the lighting had been when Ghost had taken his mask off for a few short seconds before forming Ghost Team; he might not ever get another chance, and he’d barely gotten a good look at his features at all.
Back in the present, he asked, “So what does this guy look like again? I still find it really weird that no one seems to know who he is.”
Gaz was about to reply as they entered the mess hall, then grinned. “I don’t have to describe him, he’s right there.”
Soap’s gaze snapped over to where Gaz was looking, and he immediately understood why Gaz thought the man would be his type.
Even while sitting down, he was big . From what Soap could tell, he was incredibly built under his black long sleeved shirt, and his face was a marvel. He was heavily scarred, with one bisecting his eyebrow and continuing all the way down his cheek to his mouth and several smaller ones littering his face. He had pale eyelashes, as pale blond as his hair, which was short on the sides with a shock of curls on the top.
In short, he was beautiful .
“You’re drooling, mate,” Gaz commented.
“Shut up, I am not ,” Soap responded, visibly pulling himself together.
As they got their food, he kept stealing glances at the man - he was sitting alone, everyone apparently too scared to actually talk to the stranger, even if he could see a fair amount of people looking over at him occasionally.
Well, no one had ever said Soap was a coward; he made his way over and plopped himself down opposite the other man, Gaz in tow.
“Alright, mate? Haven’t seen you around here before, I thought it would only be polite to say hi.” Soap smiled as the other man looked up at him with brown eyes; they reminded him of Ghost’s, they were just as pretty as his.
The stranger didn’t respond, but he did nod both to him and Gaz, who continued, “I’m Gaz, this is Soap. Nice to meet you.”
The other man offered them his hand to shake, and Soap noted the beginnings of a tattoo peeking out from just under his shirt.
“Not big on talking, eh?” Soap grinned.
He got a shrug and a smile in response before the man continued eating. And god, what a beautiful smile it was.
Soap almost wished he wasn’t in love with Ghost, because Gaz had been so right. He’d get on his knees for this guy in a heartbeat.
Dinner continued with the usual chatter between Soap and Gaz, while the stranger kept eating silently except for small huffs of laughter in response to their banter.
When he was finished, the man gave them a small wave before getting up to put his tray away. As soon as he’d stood up and turned away from them, Soap choked on his drink.
Oh god. Oh god.
Alright, so. Soap was definitely an ass man. Which meant that he had spent large amounts of time surreptitiously staring at Ghost’s ass, to the point where he would probably recognise it anywhere.
While Gaz was slapping him on the back, trying to help him get his cough under control, Soap was trying not to freak out.
Because the handsome stranger everyone was swooning over was Lieutenant Simon “Ghost” Riley, holy shit.
“Definitely your type then,” Gaz laughed as Soap stared after Ghost.
Ghost who was about to leave the mess hall. Soap got up, threw a quick “Sorry mate, can you put my tray away for me?” at Gaz and then followed.
He walked after him quickly, catching up in the hallway leading to their rooms.
Thinking quickly, he pondered what to say, but thought fuck it and just called out, “Wait up, Simon!”
He saw the other man twitch at the name, but he kept walking.
When Soap caught up enough to keep pace, he tried again, “I know it’s you, Ghost.”
The other man stopped, took a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door to his room. Soap was just about to open his mouth again when he was pulled into the room quickly, the door shutting behind him.
As far as he was aware, no one he knew had ever been inside Ghost’s room. And it really was his room, Soap thought, glancing at the skull mask sitting on the desk.
He was distracted from his sweep of the room by a very familiar voice asking, “How did you know?”
Soap’s gaze moved back to Ghost, who was looking at him with a furrowed brow. He could feel himself blush, nervously running a hand through his mohawk. “I, uh. I recognised you, clearly?”
Ghost tilted his head, “Not at the start, though. It didn’t seem like you knew at all during dinner, so what was it?”
Fuck, he wasn’t going to get away with lying, was he? “I’d rather not say, sir.”
“Why’s that?”
Soap took a deep breath, “It’s just a wee bit inappropriate, LT.”
“Ah, but Johnny - that just makes me more curious. Are you going to tell me or do I have to make it an order?” Ghost was smirking at him and Soap could see it. The novelty alone made him take an extra second to process what he’d said.
Soap was definitely blushing now, “Could you do us both a favour and just leave it be?”
“Just tell me, I promise I won’t be offended or whatever you’re worried about.”
With both hands covering his burning face, Soap muttered, “I recognised your ass.”
He heard a snort. “Alright, fair - I can see why you said it’s inappropriate. How much time do you spend staring at my ass to recognise me just by that, Johnny?”
“Can we please drop it?” Soap begged, muffled behind his hands.
At the sound of Ghost’s soft laughter, he moved his hands to see it. The taller man had moved to sit on the bed, holding himself up with his arms behind him.
He looked… relaxed. More relaxed than he’d ever seen him with the mask on.
Soap couldn’t help voicing his confusion, “How are you so calm about me seeing your face?”
Ghost shrugged, saying, “I trust you,” with an ease that didn’t fit how he’d just thrown Soap’s worldview off its axis.
He knew Ghost trusted him in the field, but to be trusted with his face this openly? It made his chest hurt.
Spying the only other place to sit, he sat down in the chair by the desk. “Can I ask what all that was about, LT? You walking around maskless, I mean.”
“In fairness, no one other than Price - and now you - knows it’s me. And to answer your question, it was my therapist’s idea.”
Ghost seeing a therapist wasn’t a surprise, but him telling Soap about it was; he felt another twinge in his chest. He made an inquiring noise, hoping Ghost would explain more.
“I suppose you know why I wear the mask?”
Soap frowned, “It’s an anonymity thing, isn’t it?”
“Kind of, yes,” the other replied, “It started as a coping mechanism when my family got killed. I thought that if no one knew who I was, people connected to me couldn’t get hurt anymore. It was silly at the time, considering there was no one left to hurt.” There was a sad smile on Ghost’s face, and Soap longed to comfort him.
That particular rumour was true then. Soap wasn’t sure what to say other than, “So it’s not for that reason anymore?”
Ghost shook his head, “No, Simon Riley has been legally dead for years now, there’s nothing left to protect there. Honestly, the mask is a bit like a safety blanket, a barrier between Simon and the rest of the world.”
“A way to become Ghost,” Soap muttered, getting a nod from Ghost. “So… your therapist wants you to let go of the safety blanket?”
“Yes. No one knowing who I was made it a bit easier, to be honest.”
Soap wasn’t quite sure how his evening had made a hard turn into a heart to heart with Ghost. He wasn’t complaining, he was just honestly baffled at the sheer openness. Therapy was definitely helping him, Soap thought happily.
He cleared his throat. “Thank you for telling me all this, LT. I’m honoured.”
“Oh, but how could I resist sharing all this with the man who knows me so well he recognised me by ass alone ?” Ghost was smirking at him again and it was doing all sorts of things to his insides.
“I thought I’d managed to distract you from that part,” Soap groaned.
Ghost leaned forward, still smirking at him, “Sorry Johnny, I don’t think I’ll be able to forget that. It’s honestly very flattering.”
Soap sighed, resigned to the jokes he'd probably have to endure for the next few weeks.
"Hey Johnny? I assume I don't have to tell you to keep what I just told you to yourself, yeah?"
He looked back at Ghost with a smile, "No worries, LT, my lips are sealed. On that note, I best get going before Gaz sends out a search party."
He left Ghost's room to the sound of soft laughter behind him.
---
Soap loved Gaz like a brother, but if he didn't shut up soon, he might have to strangle him.
All morning, the other sergeant had been pestering him for information - he couldn't really blame him, with how Soap had taken off after dinner last night, but… Soap promised not to share Ghost's secrets.
Gaz was still talking as they entered the gym, rounding the corner to where the treadmills were, "Come on Soap, spill already! I know he's your type and I saw you follow him out, so please tell me you at least made out? Or more?"
Gaz was so focused on his plea for information he bumped into Soap as he stopped, staring at the only person in the gym with them, who was staring right back, clearly in the middle of a workout.
Of course it was Ghost. Soap couldn't catch a break, could he?
Gaz recovered quickly, unfortunately. He leaned around Soap, let out a chipper "Good morning, Ghost!" before setting up the treadmill and continuing where he left off.
"For real though, mate, I'm trying to live vicariously through you here, give me something !"
Soap glanced at Ghost, who'd gone back to lifting weights while looking between him and Gaz.
"I keep telling you, Gaz, nothing happened," Soap sighed, setting up his own treadmill next to Gaz.
As they both started walking, Gaz threw him a look. Then his face lit up and Soap knew this would not go well for him.
"Hey Ghost," Gaz started, to Soap's horror, "have you seen that tall blond guy around base? Do you know who he is?"
"Not sure who you're talking about, sergeant," came Ghost's reply.
Gaz thought for a second, then said, "Hmm, I suppose I've never seen you around at the same time, makes sense that you wouldn't know. Anyway, there's this massive guy and no one knows who he is, and I thought I'd finally find out, seeing how Soap definitely hooked up with him last night-"
" I told you nothing happened ," he interrupted, frantically looking over to Ghost, who was still just watching them. He wasn't wearing the skull mask, just the balaclava, so Soap could see his raised brow.
"Aww man, is he straight? That sucks, mate, you were basically drooling when you first saw him."
Soap was ready to sink into the floor. "Gaz. I'm begging you to shut up."
He increased the speed of the treadmill and tried to just ignore the world around him. Thankfully, at least Ghost seemed to have some mercy on his poor nerves.
"Gaz, stop torturing Johnny," he heard behind him, along with the sound of weights being put down. "And Johnny, come see me in my office when you're done here."
With that, he left. Soap was left staring ahead, heart pounding, while Gaz panicked. "Shit, did I just get you into trouble?"
Soap ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know. But you heard him, please just drop it, alright? Nothing happened, and I don't think anything will either."
Gaz pouted at him. "I was so excited for you, Soap. Sorry, I'll stop."
Soap sighed again. His mind usually went blank during his workouts, but now? He couldn't stop wondering if he really was in trouble. What else would Ghost want to see him in his office for?
---
After a thorough workout and shower, Soap nervously made his way to Ghost's office. The room was out of the way, much to the lieutenant's liking, he was sure.
He knocked, then cautiously entered once he heard a "Come in" from the other side of the door.
Soap sat down in the chair opposite the desk at Ghost's gesture, then immediately started talking. "I'm so sorry, sir, I didn't tell Gaz anything. You know how he gets though, he fixates on something and then won't stop until he gets sufficient answers."
"Let me guess, he's been pestering you since you woke up?"
Soap nodded, running a hand over his face. "He came to his own conclusions about what happened after dinner, as you heard. Wait- he's not in trouble for saying that kinda stuff in front of you, is he?"
Ghost waved him off, "If he was, surely I would have called him here, not you."
Soap immediately stiffened, "Am I in trouble then, LT? I'll promise to keep my personal affairs behind closed doors if that's it-"
He broke off when Ghost took his mask off, looking at him with a small smile. "You did keep it behind closed doors though, didn't you? Seeing how you were in my room."
Blushing, Soap averted his eyes. Fuck, actually getting to see Ghost's face still took his breath away.
"Johnny. I promise you're not in trouble, I'd just like you to clarify some things for me, alright? I'll never bring it up again after this if that's what you want," Ghost said softly.
Soap swallowed hard before looking back at Ghost, "Clarify what exactly, sir?"
"I'm asking this not as your superior officer, but just as Simon. Would you have wanted us to do more than just talk when you followed me yesterday? Even after finding out who I am?"
Soap stared at Ghost, who seemed oddly nervous compared to his usual composure. Maybe even… hopeful?
He took a deep breath. "In all honesty, I only wanted something to happen once I realised it was you. But I never would have acted on it."
Ghost tilted his head thoughtfully, "And why is that?"
"I wouldn't want to get either of us into trouble, but especially you," he admitted.
Ghost looked at him almost fondly, before making Soap stiffen again with his next question, "Is your interest purely sexual, or would you have wanted more than that?"
"I don't know which answer would make you more uncomfortable, but- It's not just sexual, Simon. Now can we please never talk about this again? I've had it under wraps all this time, so please just forget about it, okay?"
He finally looked back up at Ghost, who looked stunned. "What do you mean by 'all this time', Johnny?"
Soap grimaced, biting his lip. "Don't be cruel, please. It's already going to be bad enough now that you know-"
Just like his namesake, Ghost had quietly made his way in front of him, half kneeling in front of the chair, looking up at Soap. "I'm not trying to be cruel, Johnny. I'm trying to gauge what you want, because I don't do casual and if that's all you wanted, I would have had to decline, no matter how tempting it would be."
"…What?" Soap whispered, looking at Ghost's brown eyes, so close to him. Had he heard that right?
"I want more as well, Johnny - I just didn't know you were interested at all."
Soap's heart was beating fast, a flicker of hope flaring up and immediately getting squashed again when he remembered, "Simon, we can't, though. I still don't want to get you into trouble."
Ghost smiled, lifting a hand to rest it on Soap's knee soothingly. "In normal circumstances, you'd be right. Thankfully, the 141 is barely legal as it is, and fraternisation rules aren't as strict as they'd be elsewhere. If we can keep it off the field and not have it affect work, we're fine."
Soap stared down at Ghost, that flicker of hope reappearing, but being overshadowed by suspicion. "How do you know that for sure?"
"When I first started getting feelings for you," Ghost began and Soap stopped breathing, "I asked Price about it, hypothetically. I still would have never approached you without knowing you were definitely interested first; the last thing I'd want is to force you into something you don't want because I'm your superior."
Soap's breathing returned as the spark of hope took hold and spread warmth through him. He covered Ghost's hand on his knee, "So… you have taken a shine to me then, LT?"
Ghost's smile and those beautiful eyes were definitely fond now, "How could I not? You're amazing, Johnny."
He was blushing again, he could feel it. "You're the amazing one, Simon." He slowly lifted a hand to Ghost's cheek, cupping it gently, "Can I kiss you?"
"Please," Ghost whispered, meeting him in the middle.
With the way Ghost had one knee on the floor, he was only a tiny bit shorter than Soap, which was not an angle he'd imagined when he'd thought about kissing the taller man.
The kiss was gentle, chaste, just testing the waters. Soap's heart felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest. This was not what he'd thought would happen when Ghost had called him into his office, but he wouldn't trade it for anything.
They didn't go far once their lips finally parted, leaning their foreheads against each other and smiling.
Ghost gave him another short kiss before getting up and pulling Soap with him, only to pull him into an all-encompassing hug. Soap melted into Ghost's chest, wrapping his arms around his back, while Ghost buried his face in Soap's neck.
They just stood like that for a while, breathing each other in, before Ghost lifted his face and grinned down at him, "Really though, just how much have you been staring at my ass?"
"Awa' an bile yer heid!"
---
They'd just finished an incredibly awkward conversation with the Captain about their change in relationship status - which was met with a gruff Finally from Price, much to their chagrin - when they ran into Gaz.
Gaz, who took one look at an unmasked Ghost who was clearly holding hands with Soap, and gasped, "You lied to me, oh my god!"
"He didn't lie to you, Gaz," Ghost said, causing Gaz to freeze, staring at him with wide eyes, mouth agape.
"Shit Si, I think you broke him. But yeah, what he said - nothing happened that night, it was after."
Gaz slowly looked between the two of them, "You're telling me the mystery guy is Ghost?"
The lieutenant nodded, "Please keep it to yourself, I'm not quite ready for everyone to see me and know who I am," Soap squeezed his hand reassuringly.
Gaz still seemed stunned, but then he seemed to realise something. "Wait. Would you guys have figured this out without me running my mouth? Do you two owe me?"
He seemed delighted, grinning from ear to ear. It was infectious, Soap couldn't help but grin back. "As mortifying as it was in the moment, I think you're right. Thanks, mate."
Gaz tilted his head, grin still in place, "How exactly did you recognise him? Was it when you choked on your drink?"
Soap groaned and stalked off towards the mess hall, Simon's laughter and Gaz's confused noises following him.
He was never gonna live this down.
Definitely worth it though.