Chapter Text
At first, he’s relieved to hear the Sergeant’s voice. So relieved that he actually skips a step and almost crashes to the ground at the sound of his voice. A mistake that he instantly curses himself for, mistakes like that in times like these are what get you killed. He hadn’t seen Soap since he had told him to run, to get the hell away from Graves and the Shadows. Ghost hadn’t seen him since he saw that bullet go into his shoulder.
If he were being honest with himself, he had thought that he might have been the only one to survive uncaptured and alive. Not that he wanted the man to be dead, he just didn’t know where he was so Ghost assumed the worst. Assumed the Sergeant had been captured or killed.
So, when he heard the man over the radio, Ghost was surprised to say the least. So surprised that he barely heard what he had said, it was some form of ‘is anyone there?’
“Johnny,” he barely recognized his own voice as he answered the man’s call.
“What?” came the distinctly Scottish accent, it couldn’t be anyone else.
“Johnny what’s your status?”
“Who the hell is Johnny?”
Ghost’s blood ran cold. His first thought was that somehow a Shadow had found his frequency and they could hear him. But the Shadows knew Johnny’s name and none of them sounded exactly like Johnny. Bloody Americans couldn’t imitate his accent like that even if they tried.
The second thought was that Johnny was messing with him. If he hadn’t been trying to stay so quiet as he crept through the blood-soaked buildings of Las Almas, he would have growled. He didn’t have time for Johnny’s games right now.
“Quit screwing around Sergeant, now is not the time.”
“Wh- what?”
Ghost had never heard Soap so timid, so unsure. If this was a joke from the man, he really didn’t appreciate it. The Lieutenant had been through too much today to put up with that kind of shit from him.
“Johnny, I swear to God, you better pull your head out of your ass. We are in such deep shit right now, stop messing around.”
There was a long pause before he heard the radio crackle back to life and Johnny’s timid, unsure voice sounded again, “Umm, sir. I don’t know who you are and- and well I don’t know where I am. I just woke up with my arm screaming bloody murder sitting on the ground in the pissin’ rain.”
Ghost just looked at the radio as if it had the answers. The little machine, stubbornly, gave him nothing. He finished clearing the building he was in and hunkered down in a shadowy corner. A spot with good concealment where he could keep an eye on the door. Once he was there, he raised the radio to his face, “Johnny, what are you bloody talking about? Where are you?”
“Sir, I don’t know who Johnny is.”
Ghost’s world, which had been spinning rather precariously at this point already, abruptly stopped. His heart seemed to jack knife in his chest, and he was left reeling at the sensation of it. He pressed the radio to his forehead through his mask, he had to think.
Shock did a lot of things to the body, to the mind. Johnny had been shot, betrayed by their own teammate, then chased into unfamiliar territory being hunted by people who wanted to kill him. It would be a safe assumption to say that he could have gone into shock. Ghost tried to remember if shock could give someone amnesia.
He knew two things for certain, he was talking to his Johnny through the radio, it couldn’t be anyone else, and that if his Johnny had amnesia, they were well and truly fucked.
Ghost tried to be as calm and collected as he spoke through the radio, “Ok, if you aren’t Johnny then who are you?”
“I- I don’t know. Steamin’ Jesus! I have no fucking clue who I am.”
Yeah, that was his Johnny alright. And he had fucking amnesia. As if this day needed to be worse than it already was.
“You never do make things easy do you Sergeant?” he growled through the radio.
“I’m sorry, sir. I just- I don’t- I don’t know what’s going on. You sounded like you were looking for someone. I- I could help you find them if you help me get out of this,” he sounded so scared, “And- and in return you can help me get the fuck out of here. I don’t know where I am but there is blood everywhere and I don’t want to be here.”
“Fucking hell,” Ghost cursed right back, “You are the person I was trying to find. I can’t come and get you right now. Too dangerous. I’m going to need you to make your way to me.”
“Too dangerous? What does that mean?”
“This place is crawling with Shadows that want to kill us.”
“There are people trying to kill us?! What the fuck have you gotten into?”
“What do you remember about yourself?”
There was a long pause, “I’m from Scotland.”
Ghost had to take a second to not start screaming his head off into the radio. He had to remind himself, twice, that he couldn’t wring Johnny’s neck if he got them both killed before he saw the man again.
“Of course, that’s the only thing you remember. Ok, so to make a very long story short. You are in the military, assigned to a special unit with me. We just got betrayed by one of our own and now they are trying to track us down and kill us.”
“And who are you?”
“I’m Ghost, your… friend.”
“Since I have nothing else to go on, and you sound trustworthy enough I’ll take your word for it. But that’s a right awful name you got there, friend.”
“Can we talk about my name later? I need you to look over yourself and tell me what you see. You got shot in the shoulder, what does that wound look like?”
“Looks like I have a wrap around my shoulder, blood is starting to peek through a bit.”
“Got it, now what are you carrying. Do you have any weapons?”
“Hells bells, weapons?” the transmission paused, and Ghost could only assume that he was doing as he had asked, “No, I dinnae see any weapons around here.”
Ghost tilted his head back and it hit the wall without making a sound. He grit his teeth in frustration, of course he didn’t have any weapons on him. He had to stay calm, Johnny sounded like he was on edge already and he didn’t need to be stressed out even more. Ghost needed to get him out of this alive. He had to.
“Ok now look around you what do you see?”
“Buildings, the road. Blood on the street. I can still see it even though its pishing it down out here.”
“Speak English,” Ghost barked into the radio. Soap was already hard enough to understand right now since he didn’t have his memories, he didn’t need him to start speaking Scotts to him as well.
“It’s raining, sir,” Ghost could hear the sarcasm dripping from the other man’s tone. At least he hadn’t lost the attitude. As much as Ghost would grumble about it, he liked the quippy remarks that Johnny would shoot back at him as if it were a reflex. If he had lost any part of Johnny tonight, he was at least glad that this wasn’t lost as well.
“Copy, do you see any people?”
“Alive ones?” there was a slight pause, “No.”
Ghost didn’t want to ask about the dead bodies he was seeing in the street. He knew logically if Johnny didn’t even know that he was in the military this would be the first time, that he knows of, that he is seeing dead people.
“You’re seeing dead ones,” it was half a question and half a statement. He didn’t know how to put it delicately, so he just said it.
“Y-yeah,” the voice that answered him was weak, as if trying to hold something back. It made his chest clench and twist with emotion. He hated the way that Johnny sounded weak, he hated the way that he couldn’t be next to the man and help him.
“Don’t look at them too closely, ok?”
“I’m doing my best.”
“Atta boy,” Ghost encouraged, “Look at the buildings, do you see a church?”
“Yeah, a big one. It’s far.”
“Ok, I’m in a building near the church. I can’t back track much because of how many Shadows there are. I’m going to move where I can, but I need you to work with me. We’ll meet in the middle.”
Ghost knew it was a bad idea. Backtracking was a suicide mission. He should be focusing on getting out, he should just continue like he had been before he knew that Soap was still here. He squeezed his eyes shut. He was going to die, he was going to get himself killed going back for Johnny, maybe even get them both killed in the process.
The thoughts and realizations didn’t change anything in his mind though. It didn’t change the fact that he was already rising from his dark corner and peering out of the window to check his surroundings. It didn’t stop his resolve from setting into an iron ball.
He would go back, as far back as he needed. He would go back for Johnny. There was no way in hell that he was leaving him behind again. Simon needed him, he needed Johnny safe, alive, and within reach again. He would do anything to make it happen, even if it was the death of him.
“How in the blazin’ hell am I supposed to figure out where you are? You’re just a deep voice through a radio.”
Ghost let out a chuckle at that one, “I’ll guide you through it. Follow my instructions.”
“I’m making my way towards the church now, if I see anyone I’m just going to hide.”
“Good, keep your head low and if you see any weapons grab them. Just follow my voice and we’ll get you through this alright?”
“Just follow my voice,” Johnny mockingly grumbled, “Says the most sinister British voice that belongs to a man that I have no idea what his face looks like… Although with a voice like that I bet you’re real popular in bed, no matter what your face looks like.”
If Ghost was a lesser man, he would have stumbled with that one. Johnny certainly had a knack for saying something so out of the blue that he couldn’t even begin to brace for the impact of his words.
“I’m not popular with anyone, you’ll learn that soon enough,” he muttered back, not wanting to fully acknowledge the comment but also not willing to let it go entirely.
Johnny let out a doubtful sound, “I don’t believe that for a second. You sound like a big man, deep voice. I reckon’ that you know how to seduce just about anyone with that voice. If I wasn’t so bloody scared right now, I might even be a bit turned on getting bossed around by someone like you.”
“Focus MacTavish,” came his immediate response. If Johnny kept talking like that Ghost was certainly going to have a reaction. One that was not suited for an active warzone.
“MacTavish?” The confused voice was back, Ghost wanted to curse himself, “Is that what he’s- I’m called? Johnny MacTavish?”
“Have you passed the jewelry shop yet?” He needed to change the subject. He crept through the streets, steps not making a sound. The voices of Shadows could be heard as they searched through the city. It seemed like they had already cleared this area, but that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t come back.
“I’m coming up on it now, still heading towards the church.”
“Take a right into the alleyway just passed the shop. Take a left at the end and hunker down behind the dumpsters. There were a lot of Shadows there earlier, stay low and stay quiet.”
“You didn’t answer my question, Ghost.”
He didn’t like the way that his callsign sounded out of Johnny’s mouth. It was like an unfamiliar word that he was trying out. Like he was saying it just because it was what he was told, as if the man didn’t really believe it. Ghost hated it, he missed the way that Johnny said his callsign, the way that he could almost hear the smirk in his tone, the playful attitude that he had about it.
“Yes, your name is John MacTavish. I call you Johnny,” he admitted. He figured there was probably something about not telling a person with amnesia their name. He should probably let Johnny figure it out on his own. But fuck it, he wasn’t a medic. He just wanted Johnny back. Wanted the man to remember him.
“So, what are we then?”
“We both work together in the 141, a special task force.”
The man tutted, “Is it always this difficult to talk to you? You didn’t answer my question again.”
Ghost sighed, it seemed like he wasn’t going to get away with anything today, “We’re… friends.”
“You hesitated Ghost,” came the thick accent, “What is it? You don’t like me or something?”
“No,” Ghost didn’t hesitate that time.
Perhaps his response was too quick when he heard Johnny respond, “So you do like me?”
“Focus on getting out of here alive,” he growled, “We can talk about who you are and what we are later.”
“I tell you what spooky man, I like the sound of ‘we’. Even if I don’t know what you look like.”
“I’m sure you do Johnny, are you where I told you to be yet?”
“Aye. I’m assuming the dead guy here is your handiwork?”
Ghost tried to picture the spot where he had been when he killed the Shadow, how he had done it. That must have been hours ago at this point, “Look at the body.”
“I thought you told me not to.”
“Look at this one, there should be a knife stuck in his neck. Take it.”
“So this was you,” he still sounded nervous, but not disgusted at the thought that Ghost had killed someone. He could only take it as a good sign.
There was a pause before Johnny spoke again, “I got the knife.”
“Good man, now do you see the bakery across the way? I need you to look around and when the path is clear you need to move there. The door is unlocked, go inside. Stay quiet and keep the knife ready. You see anyone, you sneak up on them and stab them in the neck.”
“You say that all like it’s easy.”
“For us it is Johnny, I’m hoping that your body remembers what to do even if your mind doesn’t”
“I’m going in.”
Ghost set his nerves, he really hoped that no one had gone into the building since he had cleared it an hour ago. He had no clue if Johnny would be able to kill someone in this state, he was more of just hoping. He picked his way carefully down the street. He could see the back entrance to the bakery at the end of the alley.
There was a pair of shadows walking towards him and he ducked down behind some boxes. Nothing that would be helpful if they started to shoot at him. He stayed silent, leaning back as far as he could. He waited as they got closer and closer.
His breath stayed steady as the two men were just steps away from his hiding spot. His knife clenched in his hand, muscles tensed to pounce at the right moment. They were right in front of him now, if they looked to the side now, they would see him. Just a few more steps and they would be right where he wanted them.
The radio strapped to his chest made an unmistakable click and his breathing stopped, “I bet you have pretty eyes Ghost.”
He let out a growl without touching the offending radio, “Fucking hell Soap.”
Instantly, there were guns trained on him and he dove forward. Arms wrapping around the legs of the Shadow closest to him as the other opened fire, seemingly unconcerned with shooting his partner. Fucking mercenaries.
He stabbed his knife into the gut of the one he had grabbed, blood sprayed out onto his face. He ignored it as he used the falling man as leverage to pull himself up and lunge at the other. In a matter of seconds, he had slit the man’s throat, and both were laying on the wet street dead or dying. He put the Shadow, choaking on his own blood, out of his misery with a stab to the heart.
Not that the man deserved to be put down humanely, but Ghost couldn’t have him calling out on the radio. He couldn’t risk it, so the man died quicker than he would have liked.
Once they were both dead, he pulled them to the side of the street and out of the light. He left them there, a pile of bodies to be forgotten with all the rest. He looked around and couldn’t help but be relieved that there was no one else in the alleyway.
He looked at the radio as if it had offended him. Ghost let himself take in a deep breath. He wanted to be angry at Johnny, the man had almost gotten him killed, but he knew that he couldn’t. Johnny didn’t know, not in his current state. He allowed himself a second to reconcile his emotions before he moved through the dark street towards the back door to the bakery.
His hand on the doorknob he asked into the radio, “Where are you?”
“Hiding in the bakery, just like you said. I didn’t see anyone inside.”
Ghost let out of breath, Johnny was still alive, he was in the shop where he was supposed to be. He silently opened the door and crept inside. He started to do a sweep of the building. Room by room he cleared each one, knife at the ready.
Just as he was crossing the threshold into the front room, there was a noise behind him of a bottle being kicked. The hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up and adrenaline flooded his system. He heard another noise and dodged with all the speed that he could manage.
Ghost turned and saw the flash of his own knife as it came down at him. He was fast but not quite fast enough to avoid the shallow slice across his shoulder. A hiss of pain forced its way out of his teeth as he dodged another slice.
In the low light, he saw his attacker’s arm coming and grabbed it by the wrist. Using the momentum, he pulled the man forward and trapped the arm under his armpit and twisted until the knife fell out of his hand.
The man struggled, trying to pull away. When it was obvious that it wasn’t going to work, he sent a wild punch at Ghost’s mask. Ghost grabbed that arm too and manhandled him as he shoved forward. He pushed and pushed until he had the man pressed up against the wall and his arms trapped, crossed in front of his chest and pinned by Ghost’s own body.
The man struggled and struggled, barely looking up at his face. Ghost couldn’t even contain his smile. Johnny. It was his Johnny, in the flesh and in his arms.
“Johnny,” he breathed, voice far too soft for his own liking.
The man froze, suddenly looking up at Ghost. For all that he was wearing the mask, he felt like he was naked under the piercing stare of the man.
“Are you Ghost?”
He nodded.
Johnny smiled, “You’re a right spooky bastard. All covered in blood and that fucking mask.”
Ghost let out a laugh, it felt like it was punched out of him with the relief that was rushing through him. He released the vice grip that he had on Johnny but didn’t move away. Ghost held on to his shoulders looking at him closely.
Johnny smirked, a flash of familiarity zipped through Ghost, and he had to violently push it down. He could still see that slightly glassy look in Johnny’s eyes, he didn’t recognize him.
“I told ya that you had pretty eyes. Knew it before I even saw ya, didn’t I?”
Ghost huffed and grabbed the man’s face. He growled at him, “Hold still you idiot, I need to check you out.”
“I like the sound of that,” Johnny laughed, Ghost couldn’t help the way that his gut twisted at the sound even as he rolled his eyes. He turned Johnny’s face in the low light, taking note of the cuts and bruises on his skin. Checking his eyes, he didn’t see any signs of a concussion.
He backed up slightly, there was room for Johnny to leave his arms if he wanted. A little part of Ghost’s brain was pleased when Johnny made no move to leave, no move to put more distance between them.
Ghost checked over his body, the bullet wound in his shoulder was slowly bleeding through his bandages. He ripped open his pack and pulled out a compression bandage. He wrapped it over top of the soaked bandages and secured it as tight as he dared. There wasn’t time to fix it properly and he didn’t want to risk infection by taking off the other one.
It only took him a minute to make sure that Johnny was fine, but it took Ghost a bit longer to truly accept it. He checked him over, running his hands over his skin, over his clothes. Just to convince himself that he really was seeing the man in front of him. Making sure that he was truly there.
He realized that he was taking too long, then he realized that Johnny was still looking at him with that expression that told him that he had no idea who he was. Ghost pulled back slightly.
The tugging in his chest returned in full force. Ghost was a selfish man. He leaned forward. One hand resting on Johnny’s good shoulder, the other on the side of his neck and he pressed their foreheads together.
Even through the mask he could feel his body heat. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to calm his racing heart. He could feel Johnny’s breath through the bottom of his soaked mask, slow even breaths. The man seemed content to wait him out.
Ghost let himself have a second more before he opened his eyes, he saw Johnny’s blue eyes looking right back at him. With an understanding that Ghost couldn’t even begin to explain, the look seemed to pierce into his very soul.
“I wish I knew,” he said.
Ghost tilted his head in question. There was emotion shining in his eyes, it looked like Johnny was on the edge of tears, either of frustration or sadness he couldn’t tell.
“I wish I knew who you are. I wish I knew who I am. I don’t- I can’t remember anything. I don’t know what is going on. You obviously care about me, and I have no fucking clue about anything. I don’t even know if we are really friends.”
Ghost’s hands twitched where they held on to Johnny, tightening slightly. He looked into his eyes, trying to ground him, to not let him freak out, “Hey don’t worry about any of that. I know this is scary. Let’s start this over.”
He backed up a pace and Johnny seemed to deflate. Ghost ignored it and held out his hand, “My name is Lieutenant Simon Riley, I am with task force 141 and I am going to get you out of all of this mess.”
“I- I’m Johnny, I think,” the man’s voice was anything but confident and it killed Ghost to see him this way. But he still took his hand and Ghost felt a flicker of hope at the squeeze of his hand.
“A lot of people call me Ghost, but you can call me Simon.”
“Simon,” Johnny said, testing it out on his tongue with a light smile.
Ghost nodded and let their hands drop, “It’s time to move. We are going to have to fight our way out of here and get to the safe house. Once we are there, we can start to sort this whole mess out. I don’t have time to explain everything right now. Stick with me and we will get through this.”
Johnny nodded and that was all Simon needed. With his resolve set he turned towards the door. He had a mission to complete, he had to get Johnny to safety.