THE COFFEE MACHINE - task force 141 fanfic
Ghost woke up to find the coffee machine broken. Not Gaz, who had just disappeared. Weird, isn't it?
Soap, drinking his tea, looked at Ghost without knowing the problem: Ghost had been standing in the little kitchen area for 15 minutes.
The Scottish soldier stood up so abruptly that his chair scraped loudly against the floor. Ghost barely reacted. That, more than anything, convinced Soap that the situation was serious.
For the last fifteen minutes, Ghost had been standing in front of the broken coffee machine like a man attending a funeral. He wasn't trying to fix it anymore. He wasn't even touching it. He was simply staring at it with the same expression he usually reserved for failed missions.
Soap finished his tea and watched him for another minute.
Ghost remained miserable.
With a sigh, Soap pushed himself away from the table and grabbed his jacket from the hook by the door. The movement finally caught Ghost's attention.
"Where are you going?"
"The nearest city."
A slight frown appeared beneath the skull balaclava.
"Why?"
Soap looked at him as though the answer should have been obvious.
"Because if I have to spend another hour watching you mourn a coffee machine, I'm going to lose my mind."
Ghost scoffed.
"I'm not mourning it."
"Aye, and I'm the Queen."
Ghost opened his mouth, presumably to argue, but Soap was already walking toward the exit.
"The machine's dead. I'm buying another one."
"That's unnecessary."
Soap paused at the door.
For a brief moment, he considered pointing out that Ghost looked seconds away from declaring a national day of mourning. Instead, he simply shook his head.
"Sure, mate."
The base sat in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by miles of rough terrain and roads that seemed determined to test every vehicle that drove over them. The nearest city wasn't exactly close. The trip would take well over an hour, assuming everything went smoothly.
Normally, Soap would have complained.
Today, however, he spent most of the drive laughing to himself.
Nobody would ever believe this if he told them.
The terrifying Lieutenant Ghost. The man who could stare down armed enemies without blinking. The man who routinely intimidated grown soldiers into silence....Completely defeated by a coffee machine.
The image alone was worth the trip.
By the time Soap reached the city, he had fully committed to the mission.
If he was going to replace the machine, he was going to do it properly.
The first shop offered dozens of models. Small ones, oversized ones, complicated ones with enough buttons to launch a satellite. Soap spent nearly half an hour wandering through the aisles while trying to imagine which machine Ghost would hate the least.
The answer was eventually obvious.
Something reliable..Something worth it.
Something that wouldn't break after six months.
Something that made coffee without requiring a ten-page manual.
After choosing a machine, he added several bags of premium coffee beans to his cart. Then some biscuits. Then a few other things that caught his attention. By the time he reached the register, he had somehow spent far more money than originally planned.
Worth it ? Of course.
The drive back passed quickly.
When Soap finally returned to base and carried the large box through the door, he immediately spotted Ghost sitting in the kitchen.
The lieutenant looked up from his seat.
For a moment, his eyes followed the box.
Then they followed Soap.
Then they returned to the box, like a curious cat..Soap felt an unreasonable amount of satisfaction.
"Miss me?"
The answer, you guess always the same :
"No."
Soap smile, and roll his eyes, amused by his friend.
"You've been waiting here, haven't you?"
Ghost's silence was answer enough.
Soap laughed and began unpacking the machine.
The process attracted attention almost immediately. Price appeared first, drawn by the sound of cardboard being torn open. He took one look at the new appliance and immediately understood the situation.
"Machine broke?"
"Aye."
Price nodded once.
"That explains it."
A few minutes later, Gaz wandered in and stopped dead at the sight of Soap kneeling on the floor with instruction manuals scattered around him.
"What happened?"
"The coffee machine died."
"...Oh." Said Gaz quickly looking away.
The entire task force seemed to understand the gravity of the situation...for Ghost.
Once everything was assembled, Soap plugged the machine in and pressed the power button.
The low hum that followed filled the room.
Immediately, every pair of eyes shifted toward Ghost.
The lieutenant tried to pretend he wasn't interested. And...He failed spectacularly.
Fresh coffee began brewing.
The smell spread through the kitchen within seconds.
Ghost's posture changed almost instantly.
The tension that had settled across his shoulders since that morning eased away. The permanent scowl softened just enough to be noticeable.
Soap caught it. Price caught it...Gaz definitely caught it.
None of them said a word. The first mug was poured and handed over without ceremony.
Finally, Ghost gave a single nod. It was a tiny gesture, barely visible.
But Soap felt victorious.
"There he is," he said.
Ghost shot him a warning look over the rim of his mug.
The drive had taken nearly three hours in total. He'd wasted most of his afternoon and spent more money than he intended.
Yet as Ghost stood there drinking his coffee with the expression of a man whose world had finally been restored to its proper order, Soap couldn't find it in himself to regret a single second of it.
Some people bought flowers for their partners.
Some people bought chocolates.
Soap apparently drove across half the country to buy a replacement coffee machine for his work husband.
And honestly?
He'd probably do it again.
