mactavish wakes up on a bridge. the bridge; the place he watched gaz die, the place he put a bullet in zakhaev’s head…
the place he stopped being soap.
it’s silent, no screaming or gunfire; just a gentle breeze he doesn’t remember feeling that day over the weight of the blood on his skin. there’s no one around at all, but that doesn’t stop the burn in the back of his head coming from the cracked concrete behind him. a place forever embedded in his mind.
he involuntarily turns to the spot, expecting to see his limp body. he doesn’t know why these events had to blend, why operation kingfish wasn’t enough to cement its own place in his subconscious, just that every time he’s unfortunate enough to dream of this godforsaken bridge, he finds price among the dead. it’s not always the same; sometimes he lays dead before he ever arrives, sometimes his accusatory eyes are sharp and cutting as he uses his last breaths to demand why he didn’t save him, to lament that he wasn’t enough…
mactavish stiffens, confusion beating back the familiar rising dread of waking up on the bridge.
price isn’t there.
in his place is a man, eerily familiar but he can’t quite place him. all he knows is he isn’t supposed to be here. he isn’t one of the men he lost that day, isn’t one of the dozens that haunt his memory and darkens his dreams. he’s in sas standard gear, tac vest practically gleaming in its newness. and in a holster at the small of his back is a gun he’s seen a thousand times.
price’s m1911.
mactavish’s hand snaps behind him, to the matching holster looped through his belt, and his blood chills when he realises it’s empty.
“hello, john.”
he freezes, his breath stilling in his lungs, and he drags the deadweight of his eyes across the concrete, over the debris, until they fall on the boots of the man as he turns to face him.
“we’ve gotta talk,” the man wearing his face announces.
but… it’s not quite his face; the scar bisecting his eye is missing, so are the permanent frown lines etched above his brow. he’s a near perfect copy…
of the boy who walked this bridge all those years ago.
“been a while, hasn’t it?” soap calls across the space between them, looking around the remains of the bridge like mactavish hasn’t memorised every damned block of rubble. “don’t like to visit me much anymore, do you? bit of a scaredy-cat, huh?”
“scared?” he involuntarily scoffs. “son, i don’t think you know who you’re speakin’ to.”
“don’t i?” he challenges blithely. “i’d say i know you pretty well; better than you, at any rate.”
“yeah? how do you figure?”
“pretty easy to know more than a liar,” soap purrs and he tenses against the shiver trying to crawl up his spine as the very air changes; a wrongness piggybacking the wind to try and seep into his lungs. “i know how dead you are inside. how worthless you feel. i know how you look into a mirror... and hate what you see.”
mactavish’s jaw jumps. “know how to spin a yarn, don’t’cha?”
“how many years did it take you to stop looking over your shoulder for him?” he ignores him outright. “to stop waiting for that hand on your back, pushing you in a direction so you didn’t have to stop and wonder if it’s right? it was all so easy when all you had to do was live under his thumb. no choices- no mistakes.”
his fists clench at his sides to abort the jagged flinch ripping through him; countless pages of his journal flitting past his eyes like falling snow, list after list of pros and cons, decision trees mapped out to the tenth degree of separation, blueprint after blueprint laid on top of each other, each with a different entry and exit plan, missions broken down to the second- all so he knew every possible outcome.
so he wouldn’t make another mistake.
so he wouldn’t lose someone else.
“now he’s back and you didn’t waste a breath before goin’ belly up. gave ‘im control o’ your mission, o’ your men… all so he could own you again,” he accuses and mactavish doesn’t know if it’s anger or something far worse making his fists tremble. soap’s eyes drag as they look him over. “i don’t know who finds you more pathetic; him or yourself.”
“you watch your fuckin’ mouth,” he snarls but he doesn’t even flinch, like his rage is little more intimidating than a child’s.
“you're going to die for him after he already got ghost and roach killed, and you won't lift a finger to stop it. talk about low self-esteem,” he huffs, a waver in his voice like he’s unsure if he pities him or is disgusted by him. “then again, it's not much of a life worth saving, now is it?”
his nails dig into the palms of his hands, sticky damp blooming beneath them, but the biting pain does nothing to make this spectre disappear. “wake up, mactavish. come on, wake up.”
“you've got nothin’ outside of the sas,” soap continues. “you are nothin’. as mindless and obedient as an attack dog.”
‘dogs… i hate dogs,’ mactavish groaned, the memory of foaming teeth sinking into flesh far too close for comfort.
‘these dogs are like pussy cats compared to the ones in pripyat,’ came in a shock of static, dry and dismissive, and he buried the strange, nauseating twist in his guts under a wry chuckle and the relief of hearing familiar war stories again.
‘good to have you back, old man.’
“that's not true,” he bites out.
“no? what are the things that you want? what are the things that you dream?” soap reaches behind him and mactavish hears the click of price’s gun being removed from its holster. he waves it and the blatant disregard makes him grit his teeth. “your gun? that's price's. your favourite drink? price's. your cigars? price's. do you even have an original thought?”
‘what the hell kind of name is soap ghost?’
“no. no, all there is is, ‘finish the mission! look out for your men, boy!’ you still heard price's voice in your head all those years he was gone, didn’t you?” he accuses and aims price’s pistol at his temple. “clear as a bell.”
“shut the fuck up,” he spits.
soap huffs a humourless laugh, grinding the muzzle against his temple, then lets it fall away. “i mean, think about it...”
he lazily paces in a wide arc. mactavish matches him step for step, not wanting this vindictive, twisted thing of memory to come anywhere near him.
“...all he ever did was train you, order you around. price knows who you really are; a good soldier and nothing else. daddy's blunt little instrument.”
‘how’d a muppet like you pass selection?’
‘that was better. not great. but better. that was an improvement, but it's not hard to improve on garbage. try it again.’
“but roach? oh, he saw somethin’ special in him. somethin’ more. you could see it, couldn’t you? how gentle he was with ‘im. the way he never was with you.”
‘i’ll take roach, move in parallel to you; finally found a kid who knows how to keep ‘is mouth shut,’ price finished, like mactavish’s approval over the setup was little more than an afterthought.
roach almost tripped over himself to look at him, eyes wide with desperation for him to disagree, to keep him close like he had since he chose him for the 141. kept him close to keep an eye on him, to make sure he didn’t flounder under the weight of his new position, to catch him when he didn’t make the jump to the helicopter. close enough to see the notebook he kept tucked in his jacket pocket, the leather still so new it hadn’t even creased.
sometimes he wondered if he ever thought what villa clara’s tasted like.
‘he’ll look after you,’ mactavish promised and pretended not to notice roach’s imploring eyes or ghost’s subtle disapproval.
the pity seeps from soap’s voice, twisting into condescending rage as his grip tightens on the gun. “your own father figure doesn’t care whether you live or die- why should you?”
“son of a bitch!”
mactavish rushes soap, tackling him around the middle, and the manic grin on his face when his head connects with the ground, blood gushing over the concrete, just makes him angrier.
“price is a vengeance obsessed bastard!”
soap tries to rear up and his fist crunches into his cheek, his cheekbone shattering under his knuckles.
“all that shite he dumped on me about protecting the world! that was his shite! he's the one who couldn't protect anyone! he-”
the pain of his knuckles breaking on soap’s cheek doesn’t reach him. he just shifts to his left hand, pinning him by the throat.
“-he's the one who let gaz die! he let ghost and roach die! he wasn’t there for them- i always was!”
soap chokes on blood and he blindly traps his wild swing, trapping his hand and price’s gun in his elbow.
“he wasn't there for me! i don’t deserve what he puts on me!”
mactavish aims the gun.
“and i don't deserve to die!”
and pulls the trigger.
soap’s head snaps back, cracking off the cement, the hole in his forehead lightly smoking; his blank, empty eyes staring up at nothing.
mactavish pants for breath, hands shaking as he falls back onto his knees. if he looks hard enough, he can see the outline of the blood gushing from the back of his exploded head matches the puddle gaz’ left behind.
price’s gun is heavy in his hand and he needs his other to stabilise it enough to slide it home into its holster, half turned over his shoulder to watch it retake its rightful place.
he settles back on his knees with an unsteady breath-
and chokes on it when he sees soap’s eyes focused on him.
he jerks upright to fist his gear, hauling him in close enough to smell the death on his breath. blood seeps from between his snarling lips, dripping down to join the growing stains on his tac vest and the concrete below. his chest weeps with it, caving in on itself like he’d been caught in an explosion, not shot.
“you can’t escape it, john!” soap screams and the blood his spits is hot on his face. “you’re gonna die! and this?
“this is what you’re gonna become!”
mactavish’s eyes snap open, sweat catching in his lashes and blurring the water-damaged ceiling of the hovel he and price have been hiding in. he kicks the thin blanket off his legs and stumbles to his feet, unsteady legs carrying him to where price snores on his own couch, his hat dragged low over his eyes just like he always does when he sleeps.
he stands there watching him for a long time, long after his breath settles and the sweat dries on his skin.
it doesn’t bring him the comfort he’s searching for.
Logan and MacTavish are kindred spirits both dealing with the highest magnitudes of bullshit you've ever seen. I can easily imagine them hanging out in Tav's office late at night bitching about the best cigar while both sipping their own bottle of scotch/whiskey and commiserating about their idiots
Ok interactions between the 09 and 22 characters would be INSANE
I say MacTavish HATES Soap for being so very like him but not quite. He can only see the flaws and how it's going to get everyone killed.
Riley and Ghost have three options:
1) they become besties and make jokes about trauma and it terrifies everyone
2) they mutually agree without staying a word to stay away from each other
3) they absolutely hate each other because they know each other's weaknesses
Reboot Price jumps other Price on sight
I feel like both Gaz's would get along great.
However Ghost would like MacTavish until he realized he didn't like Soap and then he wouldn't be so chill anymore.
Reboot Price... I'm actually not sure
Reboot Gaz would think he's a snob and just dislike him on principle for how he treats Soap which...valid
Everyone loves Riley he is just peak (except for maybe Ghost as stated above). Riley is the favorite he gets along with Gaz with the sarcasm and Soap just because...well It's a version of MacTavish.
Riley is unsure of reboot Price at first but quickly becomes attached.
09 Gaz I can't see him as anything other than neutral just everyone likes the guy. He's funny, he's good, he's great.
The reboot 141 take one ONE look at 09 Price and DESPISE him. BECAUSE WHAT THE FUCK?! THAT IS NOT PRICE. (Even 09 Gaz won't give him the time of day)
The thing is MacTavish thinks Soap is a fool. And Soap KNOWS that actually the issue is MacTavish
Soap is smart any version of them are incredibly intelligent but MacTavish has lost the plot. You have Soap over here pointing out the inconsistencies and flaws with his logic and hero worship. But MacTavish will NOT hear it because what does this Sergeant know?!
He also gets super jealous that Riley likes him It's just insult injury
And the thing is Riley's just probably tired of having to deal with my MacTavish's BS. Riley loves him no doubt but it's just refreshing to have another version of the man he loved before he kind of lost himself
Soap can't help but pity the man. He understands why he acts like he does he just wishes it didn't end up like that. He can't even help him MacTavish won't listen. I mean why would a man want to admit he's wrong and rearrange his whole worldview that he's had set for so many years. Death truly is an easier choice.
And Soap knows that's what's going to happen he just wishes that with the trajectory he's headed it won't take out his whole team but he doesn't think either of them are that lucky.
What if MacTavish time traveled back after he died at the end of MW3
Ft: @azilver
(x)
Az:
mactavish fades away with prices voice in his ear and thinks its about time only to come to at his desk with a concerned riley looming over him calling "captain? captain???"
mactavish rights himself and dismisses the lieutenant but its on auto, looking around at the office he hasn't seen in, what? a year? more? he vaguely recalls the paperwork about chemo requesting leave but .... pushing up from the desk he heads outside, stride purposeful even if he can't think of a destination. he remembers the pain, rubbing at where the wound had burst open as he landed, the dull throb of a phantom knife separating his flesh. familiar voices call out greeting and acknowledgements, he feels like choking seeing his men jog past. dead. they were all dead.
Me:
MacTavish just roams aimlessly. He remembers this is before everything went wrong before the start of the end.
Before Makarov started causing issues at least noticeably. World war 3 hadn't started yet and General Shepherd....General Shepherd.
Could he even stop it from starting? No, he couldn't he knows he can't. But he could stop the war sooner. He knows where Makarov will be knows what has to get done.
He's a step ahead but... Shepherd how the hell does he deal with Shepherd? He can't kill him not right now he become haunted immediately.
He would have to play along... maybe send out separate secret operations. Shit where was his journal. He patted himself down And grabbed the small book.
It was covered in blood....his blood...
Az:
alt
he doesn't believe in any supernatural shit, he can't, getting your hopes up in their line of work is never a good idea. but he can try.
he needs to find his place in time and so he heads for his room, digs until he finds his latest notebook and reads. he's back farther than he thought. price isn't back yet, that a month or 2 out still. sheppards still sniffing around, playing them like fiddles.
not for long. he has until the rescue mission to untangle this shit as much as he can. he can't think about price right now, not with the realisations he'd come to after the bastard had let sheppard take his boys from him. had ushered in the war they'd bled and sacrificed for so long to keep at bay.
he needs a fucking smoke.
heading outside he fishes in his pockets for his pack. oh, he's on his last cigar and ain't that a big pointed ironic finger from the universe?
"yeah, yeah, i get ye." he mutters and crushes it under foot.
"sir?" riley sidles up, a predators grace shifting in that odd edginess he always had when alone with mactavish outside of missions. well, he supposes it would be odd to se him talking to himself and destroying a good cigar.
"was damp." he spits, watching from the side as riley leans against the wall next to him. "spot me a fag, lieutenant."
he hears the smirk in the man's voice even as he passes him the cigarette, slipping out another for himself, "only if'n ye spot me a light, sir"
Me:
You KNOW his personality must take a 180. Like it's whole new person or alternatively just different enough to be off-putting.
He has changed a lot over the course of the war and all the losses seem to pile on.
He will stare at his team sometimes like his seeing ghosts. He will turn around and treat them tougher then every before so this time maybe, hopefully they won't be unprepared
You know it's like pulling teeth for MacTavish to go along with Shepherd. Everyone else is super confused because what the hell changed in such a short period of time
Az:
he takes to digging, burning the late night oil in a way that has even the likes of the worst insomniacs of base weary. he needs proof, something tangible to show his men. he knows they trust him, more than the past-future shows/ed they should and he can't just make them go on faith.
as a captain he can't ignore his duties, thankfully he has a damned good memory and what he forgot he has in his notebook. the few ops they're sent on go off without a hitch - if maybe the men start whispering about the captains near psychic ability to just know he ignores it. instead what little time he can spare is spent with his boys.
where before he would watch from the sidelines for the most part he now steps in. he spars and backchats and touches. its confusing and unnerving somehow ...but also appreciated. maybe it just bonding or just maybe how he'd pulled away in the last few years as sheppard wound his way closer into the 141.
soap was always one of them but along the way the captain had taken over more and more. and for all he's pushing them harder and harder they notice the captain is more prone to risks. they see him staring off too often to dismiss it. they know somethings changed and like good soldiers they read their captain and start preparing.
Me:
Riley gets particular snoopy one day and manages to snag the journal. MacTavish kept that thing safe like it was his own child so seeing it covered in blood was alarming.
He worried over what had happened. Opening it there wasn't anything note worthy but the more pages he flipped the weirder it got.
There were things that hadn't happened yet events, betrayals, death, The more Riley read the more he needed answers.
Then his and Roach's death...
He just stared uncomprehending way because what? Shepherd? Sure he'd never really trusted the man but...to kill them?
Then the hunt... Then the blood... Then The last edition that wasn't the neat and purposeful writing of MacTavish...
Az:
it makes sense for all that it doesn't.
out of them all riley was the one who always watched mactavish, was always looking at the man. so he'd seen those little moments, the quickly shuttered pained swallows watching his men, the pure hate that sliced through his eyes the moment sheppard turned around. the little things like stepping between roach and a fire, putting off a mission an hour just to get that much more gear stowed.
and the thing that pushed riley past the edge of his respect for the man, just enough that he allowed himself to snoop: mactavish flirted back.
Me:
He's not a man that would normally go into people's business that's not his own. But he was genuinely worried about Tav and the man was going along with the flirting and stuff. He knew they were close probably closer than anyone else on the team.
That was his job after all he was the Captain's right hand. But what if instead of snooping (this just hit me) he had seen the journal somewhere it shouldn't be and wanted to bring it back to him
Az:
riley's not stupid. he knew mactavish let them, let him, get away with much more than any other CO would. he'd never given a shit about who was fucking who, hell, worm had admitted to the captain walking in on he and meat and just told them to get their reports on his desk before lights out. the captain seemed to be of the opinion that nothing mattered except their abilities in the field, pushing himself same as them.
and riley had pushed back on occasion. being the man's 2nd gave him leeway sure but even then the first time he'd found a proposition slipping out in response to the man sighing in exhaustion he'd fully believed he was about to be murdered. what he hadn't expected was a snort and "fuck off, riley"
it had become a thing he did, so much so that the rest of the unit openly placed bets on if the cap would ever give the man what he wanted. and good god was mactavish what riley wanted. he'd fucked around enough to know who was game and how to get what he wanted. for a while he'd thought mactavish was ace except roach came in one morning and told them all how he'd seen the man take home some girl from the bar the night before. so straight, which sucked but didn't stop him pushing. then a few of them were at a bar a few miles from base and he'd gone for a leak only to see his captain walk out of a stall adjusting his belt, 3 seconds later followed a pretty boy wiping at his mouth.
Me:
Riley has been extatic to know he had a chance and if Tav really didn't want it. Well the man was more than capable of getting him to stop.
The fact MacTavish allowed it in of itself was damn near the equivalents of permission. He let them do as they pleased for the most part sure.
But he was not beyond jumping down someone's throat if they annoyed him too much. People just understood You could do what you wanted but If it was something you couldn't... Well you would find out.
The captain was brutal there was no denying that. He expected perfection and would settle for nothing less and it seemed if only gotten worse his standards raising in the past few weeks. This seems to be the answer for it but wtf did it mean.
It made sense and fit perfectly sure but It was bat shit insane. Riley prided himself in nothing was too far-fetched but this? This pushed the limit for him.
He didn't mention it as he handed the journal back. He didn't mention it to anyone else either. He just continued doing what he always did. Being a nuisance in flirting with the captain
Az:
"if you insist on using that mouth of yours for something other than shutting up, be at my bunk at lights out and i'll use it for you"
mactavish walks away and silence follows. not one of them can believe what they just heard. they all look at each other over lunch in shock. not once in the years the unit has existed has the captain ever responded to a come on and never to riley. everyone to a man knew the lieutenant was gagging for it, would have been the man's personal fluffer at the barest crook of a finger. and yet...
"ok, what the fuck was that riley?"
"what?" the manc is still reeling and under other circumstances maybe they'd let him get away with it.
peasant comes up and places a restraining hand on his shoulder, archer and worm not a step behind. the rest of the unit move the make sure they're alone, pushing out the few straggling outsiders. whatever the fuck is going on is for the 141's ears only.
"riley, cap's been acting different for the last few weeks, we all know it." toad stares him down as the rest nod in agreement. "feels like a storm's coming and no one but him sees it."
Me:
Riley is still shell shocked "What?" He repeated because SURELY that hadn't just happened.
"Something is up " Meat agreed and Riley wasn't having it. "No no no go back did he just....is he serious?" Riley sounded excited.
"Yes and that's half the issue. What the fuck has changed so much?" Chemo answered easily
Riley wasn't listening he had tuned them out. They were onto something sure and he definitely had a piece to that puzzle.
That however was a later issue, right now? Now he had been offered to fallow though on the flirting.
( az: riley, horny and about to combust: "let me go! i need to get to him!"
the rest of the unit, holding him down: "no, tell us what's going on!"
Me: Riley has answers but is overwhelmed with the horny
Az: the man who thought he'd been made immune to torture is about to learn
Me: The 141: What the fuck is going on?? Surely Riley knows I mean he's around the man more than the rest of us combined
*Cut to Riley who is throthing at the mouth*)
Me:
"RILEY!" Worm shouts at him and Riley turns to snarl at him. "You are around him all the time you're his right had you have to know something. Is it confidential just give us something to work with." Worm begged
Riley groaned in annoyance, "I don't know shit. He hasn't told me anything but...yeah it's not right I *know* that."
Riley wouldn't bring up the journal even though he's sure it is the key to all of this. He shouldn't have seen it in the first place, it wasn't his place to talk about it.
"You don't know anything?" Archer asked dubiously and we'll ge kind of did. He had looked into what McTavish was diving into.
It was files on Shepherd he was looking for dirt. He knew something was wrong there even if he couldn't have concrete proof, even if he didn't bring up the journal.
"I'm not sure what exactly but he's digging for something on Shepherd." Riley answered with a sigh.
"Shepherd? Why Shepherd?" Rook asked and Riley weighed his options.
"I'm not completely sure, but I think he's onto something. I don't talk about before..but Shepherd owns me. Sure I'm here but he could pull me away just as easy. He's always been off he'd use me to do a dirty jobs stuff we can't have on the books." A breath.
"He's not a good man and if MacTavish thinks something's off to the point where he needs to look into it. Well I'd say he's onto something." Riley finishes with a shrug
Az:
and it's not like he'd be sad to get out of sheppards leash. not even if it meant a new one in mactavish's hands.
the world tip and he finds himself on the floor before he knows it. a weight settles on his back even as he manages to flip onto his back. roach is sitting on him and signing rapidly. you should have told us before! we've been freaking out for weeks!
it's probably a sign of how they're all on edge that riley doesn't even try and dislodge the man, instead he tries to reassure him, them. "roach, man, you know how the cap is. he wouldn't want us getting involved especially with how dangerous sheppard is."
peasant squats down beside them and flicks riley's forhead. "oi! none of that, ya hear? we're all 141, that includes you and the cap."
meat picks roach up off of him and tosses him over his shoulder as peasant gives him a hand up, "now, this is what we're gonna do: tonight you give the captain what he deserves and we'll get into his shit. if you do your job well enough he'll be too relaxed to be pissed at us and maybe even enough to let us help"
Me:
Riley has never agreed to something faster in his life. Not like he needs insensitive to put in his best effort.
He ends up in the Captain's quarters and it's without a question the best sex of Riley's life. He's used like a toy and he couldn't be happier.
He knows when he wakes up he'll be useless for the day but it's a sacrifice that has to be made. Besides if The captain gets mad about it well it's his fault.
Riley didn't expect as much passion as he got he was blindsided by the desperation the man showed. It was so unlike him but fuck it was hot.
Sure enough he woke up and he was as sore as he had been after his first hell week. To his surprise Tav was still asleep curled around him.
Riley wouldn't complain and couldn't even if he wanted too. Luckily for him it didn't take long for the other man to wake up.
He stirred as be buried his face further into Riley's hair. "Good morning Johnny." Riley chirped and Tav slapped a hand on his mouth.
"Fuckin told ye no ta call me that." He slurred out voice deep and gravely accent thicker then Riley has ever heard it. It made him melt a little
Az:
he'd happily lie there for the rest of his life, feeling the hollow ache in his ass and light stinging heat from the bites and bruises littered across his skin, even the tacky feeling of drying cum can't ruin the afterglow. he feels ridiculous. he feels fucking giddy.
"missed you" he'd miss it if mactavish's mouth wasn't right by his ear and it's said so quietly, almost a mumble. it's ice water. he twists to look at him but the other man is still more asleep than awake.
I missed you
the caps notebook. it described all their deaths, riley and roach's in particular. that had been months of entries before the last one and next to it had been a short list of dates: one about the time mactavish had started acting off, the next coming up in the next week or so. 3 others following, the last a little after that last entry underlined in red.
Me:
Riley had no reason to believe what he saw in the notebook. Hell it could be delusions cased by the last of sleep the man had be getting.
But Tavs soft 'I missed you' is all it took to convince him it was all real. Was that pathetic and probably his own hopes speaking? Probably but this had become proof for him.
Maybe by the time the others had an idea what was going on it would be answered. At least he could hope because things weren't right.
By the time they both got showed (another round in there) and dressed the team was waiting for them.
In Roach's hand was the journal and Riley locked eyes with him. He saw the same apprehension and horror.
MacTavish just froze up before growling and ripping it out of his hand. Roach didn't even try to hold on to it.
"WHAT THE FACK IS THIS?!" Tav demanded and Riley realizes he may have possibly fucked up.
"You're not acting like yourself we got worried so we did some snooping." Chemo said easily and there was definitely a vain popping out of the Captain's neck.
"I can have you all fired for this!' MacTavish roars but not one of them believe he'll do that for a moment. "Sure but then how will you kill Shepherd and Makarov?" Archer asked.
MacTavish came up short. "What?" He asked confused.
"How will you stop WW3 Without us?" Archer asked smugly. MacTavish looks she'll shocked. Riley's missing something but it seems that they're getting somewhere.
"You believe everything you saw and read?" He asked and the others just nodded in agreement. It wouldn't be something MacTavish would lie about they all knew that.
Az:
"why?"
"Why what?" toad asks
"why do you belive any of that?" Mactavish spits, pointing at the book and it really shouldn;t surprise anyone he's defensive. if even half of what's in there is true then Johnny's been very alone for a long time.
"Sir," chemo starts but how do they explain it?
because we believe you roach says and yes it is that simple.
"it makes sense" meat adds
peasant shrugs, "we know you, sir, you don't do anything for no reason. a few weeks ago you started acting ...off. you're our captain. it was like you'd been turned up to 100!"
there are murmers from the men and comments about the little things but it comes down to the fact that the 141 operates on a very simple and very straightforward mentality: look to the captain
Me:
MacTavish thinks he might cry. He isn't sure how to deal with this overwhelming support. He was so used to being pushed aside and ignored and it hurt. He forgot that this team was based off of.
Trust.
He pulls them into a long abandoned confidence room that promised pricey and showed exactly what he had figured out so far.
The room looks like a mess stuff everywhere. There was paper tacked to walls scribbles on the table. It looked like What people imagined conspiracy theorists did in their free time.
He explained everything and what he had proof of and what he didn't. Strings of evidence and spots where he just couldn't find anything even though he knew how it happened.
It was a week later on the exact specified time when they recovered Price.
No one was sure how to proceed with this and MacTavish was in shambles.
"I should kill him." MacTavish had announced to them all later that night.
"If you do that how do you explain it the way?" Riley asked honestly keen on getting rid of the men but still he had to point out the obvious.
'Doctors already took a look at him It can't be passed off his injuries. If you killed him it would be an assassination someone on base would have had to do it. You can't hide that It would be investigated.' Roach pointed out.
"They have bigger fish to fry than whoever killed Price." MacTavish reasoned.
"Yeah because they wouldn't care about a man who was being held specifically by Makarov." Chemo daid sarcastically.
MacTavish groaned
Zombie hummed, "Let us handle it, sir, best if you aren't involved. From what you've said he'll try and dig in with you so you'd be one of the first questioned."
the men agree even if they don't like it. mactavish didn't hold back when he told them about price and how the man got into his head, pulled him along like a trained dog. and gods did riley not want the man near his captain.
he'd been the one to drag johnny to bed, make sure he ate, keep him on track now that the rest of the men were on board. and maybe there was a part of him that wanted as much of the man as he could have just in case....
the other's were supportive, of course, but they'd agreed to let him handle the more personal aspects to getting their captain through this hell. they helped manage the brass and the other soldiers, handed over their meals and wrote up paperwork that didn;t need more than the cap's signature. rook and zach, the most personable of them, made friends with some of sheppards men and kept a more trained eye on them. robot and red exercised their tech skill and bugged the system. everyone had their ears to the ground but they knew they were running out of time.
so it's no surprise when they're in the hidden office, trying to work out what the hell they can do when mactavish slips in and thunks down on a chair. he looks exhausted.
riley's up and fixing him a coffee without a thought, the others going quiet as the man leans back, eyes closed.
"sir?"
he sighs. "ah cannae do it. if price says another thin' aboot us ah'm gonnae shoot 'im."
it's not secret that soon as the man was let out of medical he'd been on mactavish like tik on a curdog. riley had been hard pressed not to punch the man when he'd given the lieutenant a nasty look seeing him lean in against his captain. "here, Tav"
"Thanks, Si" he groaned, taking a big swallow not caring at the heat. eventually he shrugs, "maybe ah could get price and sheppard to kill each other"
Me:
The room paused at that
The batshit idea was.... Well not as insane as it was intended to be
MacTavish looked up at the silence. "That's a good idea isn't it?" He asked the room at large.
Affirmatives rang around the room and he groaned. "Shit we've been trying to make this more complicated than it had to be haven't we?" He asked and another round of agreements sounded.
"How do we get this to happen? Have him overhear us? Act like it's a secret and drop hints? Leave my office door open with all the information layed out for him to find?" He asked the team.
"Why not all of it sir?" Riley asked his eyes crinkling as a smirk presumably crawled across his face.
They deemed it 'mouse trap' even though which was the mouse in this situation was unclear. They started small with cutting off conversations about it when Price appeared. Then to hiding files when he entered a room.
It progressed to vague explanations that made no sense and finally to the office door being left slightly open one night.
The next morning Price was gone
Az:
roach definately suggests just asking price to deliver something to sheppard just for it to go boom
Me:
They wait impatiently for the news to ring one way or the other. Either way it can't be a loss they know that for sure
Az:
the only reason they veto is because of collateral
the brass are in an uproar but since the 141 have no idea where he went there' not much they can do.
what they do know is where makarov will be in a few days time so they plan for him instead. sheppard need to be in washington that week so it's easy enough to fly under his radar. a little hacking here, some misplace paperwork there, and they're a week earlier than the bastards expect. it's too risky to have men on site when makarov gets there, instead mactavish has them place enough explosvies to level a small town and then they wait.
from a very distant vantage point they confirm makarov has exited his chopper and walked inside. they wait 5 minutes and then blow it sky high. nothing is left, from the parking area to the sewers, it's all slag and detritus.
Me:
The aftermath is mayhem But MacTavish refuses to let them leave until they can confirm he is in fact dead.
It doesn't take much convincing as they get out the dogs and have them search for anyone living as well as pulling out the other stops just in case.
Everything comes up negative. And they all sigh a breath of relief
