They watched. Observed and notated their findings. Kyle, Simon, and Johnny seethed for months as they watched Nikolai attempt to woo John’s wife. Any time she would come to base they could be found laughing together in his helicopter or sharing a meal in the mess, always without John.
How the hell did Nikolai think he could get away with this?
John, for his part, seemed to be happier than ever before. He yelled less and moved with a renewed vigor on and off jobs. He would spend time with Nik behind a closed door in his office and then meet his wife for dinner with a kiss.
They talked about it off base, all tucked into a bed. Simon lay in the center, arm curled around Kyle and Johnny as they rested their heads on his chest.
“I can’t handle to much more of Nikolai making moves on Mrs. Price. That woman is too sweet to fall for his charms,” Simon murmured.
“If she needed more love, I wouldn’t be opposed to inviting her into what we have going,” Kyle offered.
Johnny hummed, voice distracted as he voiced his thoughts.
“What if…what if John knows? And is okay with it?”
Blinking back into existence Johnny recoiled from the two disbelieving looks pointed at him.
“What?” He asked defensively, “We know it’s possible to have an unconventional relationship and be happy.”
Kyle and Simon had shared a look before changing the subject.
The final straw for Simon was Mrs. Prince waving John goodbye in a robe and welcoming Nikolai less than two minutes later.
Neither Johnny nor Kyle could talk him down from his chosen path. Gathering up all the documentation, photos, and timelines they had collected Simon marched for war. Kyle and Johnny kept pace and passed looks of concern back and forth. Simon didn’t knock when he arrived at John’s door. The door creaked under the weight of his anger.
Looking up from his computer John lifted a brow at his men.
Without giving him a moment Simon slapped the folder of evidence on the desk. Kyle shut the door, no need for witnesses to this breakdown.
“Well, that was dramatic.” His eyes flicked from the photo peeking out to Simon, “Wanna tell me what this is about?”
“Nikolai is trying to steal your wife from under you,” Simon’s fists clenched, shoulders as wide as they could go.
John lifts the cover, paper resting against his nail. Upon opening it all three men watch his face, his posture for any signs of distress. There are none. A picture of Nik and Mrs. Price laughing at a small cafe is the first thing in the folder. Setting the photo aside John leans back in his chair as he reads the comings and goings of each person.
That paper scanned he flips through each piece of information the guys had pain painstakingly gathered over the last four months. The longer John looked everything over and failed to react, the lower Simon’s shoulder fell. Only when all three men stood with neutral stances did John look up from his desk.
His eyes scanned Johnny’s face, then Simon’s, and finally Kyle’s. Taking a deep breath John brought his hands up, palms flat together to rest his fingers against his lips. The snorting laugh that erupted out of him surprised them all. He quickly settled his mouth back behind his hands.
“Now,” John hummed, fighting back more laughter. “While I appreciate…”
He couldn’t finish his sentence, breaking down into gales of laughter as he covered his face with his hands. The three men were now more concerned for their captain than they were before this whole intervention started.
When the laughter finally trailed off and John sat straight again he found himself besieged with searching, deeply concerned looks. Neatly stacking each of the pictures and papers back into the file folder he cleared his throat his started again.
“Now, while I appreciate you three looking out for me,” he snapped the folder closed and lifted it to point at each of them in turn. “I don’t ask questions about your boyfriends. I ask that you leave mine and my wife be. They like having dates and laughing about me.”
Johnny understood first. He snapped an accusatory and triumphant gaze to his lovers and broke out in full Gaelic as he pointed from Simon to Kyle. Without breaking his stream of incomprehensible words he fired off two middle fingers and let himself from the room.
Kyle bit his tongue, nodded twice as he kept his eyes from connecting with John’s, and followed in Johnny’s footsteps out the door.
“Nothing to say, Simon?”
Lieutenant and Captain clash gazes, the latter waiting for the former to fold and follow the others.
“Not sorry we pried.”
John’s chair creaked as he leaned back in it, folder still pinched in his grip.
“Don’t be sorry for it, son. Don’t do it again though.”
Simon turned on his heel, grateful beyond words for his mask to hide the pink tint to his fair skin.
“Hey.”
Looking over his shoulder at John, he lifted a brow.
“I don’t poke for answers I know, but I don’t make them my business either. You and the sergeants have nothing to worry about from me.”
Nodding, heat from his cheeks attempting to burn his mask off his face Simon left his captain’s office.
John laughed on and off all day thinking about the ‘intervention’ his men staged. Unlocking the front door to the flat he shared with you and Nik, John couldn’t keep a grin from his face.
You had claimed one corner of the couch, a book in your hand, and a blanket over your lap. Nik sat on the other, headphones over his ears plugged into a CD player. Both look at him with a smile when they notice his arrival as they set aside their activities.
“Well Mrs. Price, you won the bet.”
The bright look that breaks across your face has John laughing. Sitting up you high-five Nik.
“Let’s fucking go! It was Nik arriving with coffee this morning, wasn’t it? I knew that would get them.”
“Is that what you left for Nik?” John looked up from untying his boots.
Nik lifted one shoulder before dropping it.
“Coffee sounded good this morning.”
John shook his head, smile tucked into his beard at finding the best of friends for a lover and a wife. No man could be as lucky as he.
