Thank you all so much for the love you're giving this story! It honestly means so much to me! 💛
I hope you all enjoy this part 💛
Please be kind, reblogs are always welcome and greatly appreciated! Thank you for all the continued support 💛
Requests are open so if you have any ideas/requests, you're more than welcome to send them over (thank you to everyone who's requested a story so far, I'm working my way through them!)
I do not give permission for any of my works to be copied or translated onto this site or other platforms!
Catch up on the previous part here: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 / Part 14 / Part 15 / Part 16 / Part 17 / Part 18 / Part 19 / Part 20 / Part 21
Warnings: Feelings of hurt, betrayal, jealousy, regret, sadness and anger - nearly a physical fight between Kyle and Johnny, arguments
COD Modern Warfare Masterlist /Taskforce 141 Masterlist /Join My Taglist
Kyle stood with his arms folded across his chest, completely and utterly baffled at his partner's actions.
John had been gone most of the afternoon but came in a few minutes after Simon and Johnny had left to go food shopping.
In the captain's hands was a familiar takeaway coffee cup that Kyle recognised far too easily.
And then Johnny and Simon returned with identical takeaway coffee cups.
Now they were all sitting in front of Kyle in the living room and he felt like a teacher scolding children.
Both John and Johnny wore a solemn look on their faces; like kicked puppies.
Simon, despite his nonchalant demeanour, was also evidently sad, it was clear in his eyes, at least it was to the people present in the room.
As much as part of Kyle wanted to be sympathetic to them; he was mainly just angry and hurt.
Angry because this is exactly what he thought would happen if he went to go and see you himself. You were clearly happy. That was good. He’d meant what he said to John that morning, you deserved it, especially after the pain they put you through.
But he knew it would twist him up to see you happy about someone else.
Which is why he made quick work of distracting himself so that he didn’t think about you.
He thought the others were doing the same; but he was clearly wrong.
Which is also why he was so hurt; because now everyone except him, had seen you.
Even if they’d come back deflated, they’d at least been able to look at you one last time….
“What were you guys thinking?” Kyle questioned; the sharpness in his voice not unnoticed by the three men sitting in front of him.
“I was thinking that I wanted to see her,”Johnny replied back; his calm tone only furthering the other Sargents' irritation.
“And how exactly did that go?”
Kyle's question was rhetorical.
He knew based on the looks on his partners faces that the interaction with you had gone poorly even without any of them answering
“Well she wasn’t exactly happy with us,” Johnny answered with a frown.
“Nor me, she made my coffee wrong,” John mumbled, taking a brief sip of the drink, trying to force himself to drink the coffee, simply ecause it was made by you.
“Gave him a raspberry tea, and me something that tastes like grass,” Johnny continued, nodding over to Simon before turning his attention back to Kyle.
“Well what did you expect?” Kyle scoffed, running a hand over his face in frustration.
“We can’t let her get married,” John stated firmly; catching everyone in the room off guard.
“Ye’ve changed your tune from this mornin’,” Johnny said, unable to stop the small smile from forming on his lips, knowing that the Captain was now on his and Simon’s side.
“I just thought about it….thought about her,” Johns words trailed off as he looked at Kyle; his eyes were soft; hoping that somehow just that look alone would calm him down.
It didn’t.
“And what?”Kyle challenged,“You thought that seeing us again was going to make her cancel her wedding?”
Kyle didn’t snap at any of them often; and certainly not at John; not only was he their Captain on missions, but they also had a close bond and, most of the time the two of them had a similar thought process on things.
Apart from now.
The room fell silent at Kyle’s outburst; each man trying to work out what to say to him, to help him understand where they were coming from.
“How do you think she felt?” It was Kyle’s own voice that broke the silence; his tone was softer now but there was an undeniable fury in his eyes.
“She was clear about how she felt,” Johnny retorted back; earning a small slap on the shoulder from Simon; who was hating that they were all arguing.
It reminded him of when John had told them that he was going to have to end things with you, it caused so many arguments after you’d left.
It nearly destroyed them.
And he could see that same pain in Kyle’s eyes, this time it was at their betrayal…Simon wanted nothing more than to fix the situation within the group, but he didn’t know how to.
“You ambushed her at work!” Kyle seethed.
“Kyle, breathe,” John said; standing up to try and touch Kyle’s shoulder to help calm him down; hating how worked up he was getting.
“With respect, John, don’t tell me what to do right now,” Kyle strained, shuffling back a little, away from John's touch.
“It’s been two and a half years and you guys just popped up out of the blue to see here, like nothing happened.”
The group remained silent, allowing Kyle to continue venting his questions to them;
“Did any of you apologise to her?”
“Did any of you ask how she’d been?”
“Did any of you congratulate her on her engagement and upcoming wedding?”
“Why would we congratulate her?” Johnny countered back; rising to his feet, anger becoming evident in the Scotsman’s tone at the ludicrous words that he’d just heard.
“Because we let her go; we made our choices and now we have to live with the consequences of them,” Kyle argued back, taking a step closer to Johnny; his words reminding them all that they all agreed to the separation that broke them up, not you.
“If we see her, and that’s a big if because she’s probably going to try and avoid us as much as possible,” he continued; realising his own rage, as he stepped back away from Johnny.
He didn’t want to fight with any of them and certainly not physically.
He needed to go and calm down; to process what had happened.
“But if for some reason we do see her;” his voice was much softer now as he walked towards the door joining the living room they were all currently in, to the hallway, “we need to act like we’re not still in love with her,”
“I can’t do that,” Simon stated; finally speaking, his tone wasn’t harsh; but it was firm, as though he was stating a fact, “none of us can, not even you, Kyle.”
Kyle was nearly out of the room when he replied back with, “That’s why I didn’t go to see her.”
His reply wasn’t filled with rage; just a sadness that they all could relate too.
Before any of them could say anything else or try to comfort him, he walked out of the room completely, closing the door behind him so that he could go and calm down, before he murdered his partners for their stupidity.
Leaving John, Simon and Johnny in the room, Kyle’s words still echoing in their ears.
I know it's been a while since I've posted for this story and I'm not sure if anyone's still reading this series - but if you are, I hope you all enjoy this part 💛
Please be kind, reblogs are always welcome and greatly appreciated! Thank you for all the continued support 💛
I do not give permission for any of my works to be copied or translated onto this site or other platforms!
Catch up on previous parts here: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 /Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 / Part 14 / Part 15 / Part 16 / Part 17 / Part 18 / Part 19 / Part 20 / Part 21 / Part 22
Warnings: Mentions of death, mentions of murder, feelings of guilt and loneliness, mentions of a car crash / injuries, mentions of forced marriage
COD Modern Warfare Masterlist /Taskforce 141 Masterlist /Join My Taglist
You felt yourself tense momentarily as the door to your hospital room opened. Phillip obviously noticed; his hand was on your shoulder within a second. To most, it would look like a comforting gesture, a natural reaction for one’s fiancé to give, especially given the circumstances.
But you knew it wasn’t that.
It was a warning.
A reminder to pull your shit together and stick to the plan you’d discussed, for the safety of not only Y/a/n… but everyone else too.
“Y/a/n, how was your journey?” Phillip began, taking a few steps forward to greet your aunt.
But she cared little for his greeting.
Her lips were pursed, fury burning in her y/a/e/c eyes as she looked at Phillip, it was a look you hadn’t seen in years. You were almost certain that if you hadn’t been in the room, she would’ve slapped him. And God, you wished she did.
But of course, she refrained.
To her, Phillip and you were still a happy couple. And despite her rage, she would never want to upset you and in her mind, slapping your fiancé would do just that.
Unfortunately.
She pushed past Phillip, ignoring him completely, her y/a/e/c eyes landing on you. The rage that had burned so intensely only moments ago was almost completely gone.
“Oh my sweet girl,” she whispered, pain lacing her voice as she pulled you into a hug before you could even properly register what was happening.
Once your brain caught up, you melted into her embrace. You closed your eyes, trying to stop the tears forming from spilling from out.
“What happened?” she whispered, not breaking the hug.
You wanted to tell her.
Tell her the truth about what really happened with the crash.
Who really caused it.
But you couldn’t.
And it was infuriating.
“There was a fox in the road, Y/f/n swerved to avoid it,” you mumbled. The words felt like poison on your tongue. The tears you’d been holding back slipping free, born more from frustration than anything else.
Y/a/n pulled back slightly, her eyes scanning yours.
You could see the scepticism.
The questions racing through her mind.
This was the woman who had practically raised you. She knew when you were lying, whether it was a tiny white lie or something serious. To her you were an open book to her.
And convincing her this lie was real wasn’t going to be easy.
That’s why it had to be simple.
Just a simple accident.
That was all.
Please believe me, you silently begged, not daring to think about what would happen to her if she didn’t.
She nodded, her hands cupping your cheeks as she wiped away your tears before pulling you back into her arms. Relief flooded through you when she didn’t push the matter further.
“Phillip,” she said, breaking the hug and turning toward the man who had been unusually quiet behind her, “can you go get me a coffee? That drive has taken its toll.”
You saw his jaw lock for a split second, then he remembered himself. Remembered that he had a role to play in this ruse just as much as you did, and that acting like a rude jerk would only raise suspicion.
He needed to be the caring, doting fiancé.
And if that meant leaving you alone with your aunt for a few moments, he knew he had no choice.
Ortega was outside. And that's where he had to stay, if he was in the room it would rouse suspicion with your aunt.
“Of course. I’ll see what I can get ya,” he said, that all-too-familiar smile plastered on his face. You could see how fake it truly was. As he left the room, his eyes flicked to yours, a silent warning, as if you didn’t already know you had to stick to the story.
You heard your aunt take a deep breath as she turned back to you. Her hands reached for yours, stroking them softly, her eyes holding your gaze.
“It’s okay. I know.”
Your heart dropped.
No.
No.
No.
She couldn’t know.
How could she know?
Sure, she’d never been Phillip’s biggest fan, but there was no way she could’ve figured out that he was the reason for the crash.
“Did you really think you could hide it from me?”
The question hit you like a bullet to the chest.
Your mouth went dry as you scrambled to figure out what to say; you needed something...anything to derail this train of thought before Phillip could hear anything she’d said.
“Y/a/n-”
“I never trusted that man, and this is exactly why.”
Panic.
That was all you felt.
Sheer, suffocating panic…
“Y/a/n-” you tried again, but she shook her head.
“You’re allowed to be angry. I know I am. He should’ve called me the moment he knew you and Y/f/n were in a crash.”
“I am angry,” you said, some of the tension easing when you realized she didn’t know the full truth.
Because if she did, she’d understand that anger didn’t even begin to touch the surface of what you felt toward the man you were supposed to be marrying.
You wished you never had to see Phillip Graves again. You wished you could make him suffer the way he made you suffer. But life was rarely that fair.
“But,” you continued, burying the hatred, “he thought he was doing the right thing.”
You hated how much it sounded like you were defending him.
And judging by the look on your aunt’s face, she hated it too.
“You don’t have to make excuses for him, Y/n/n,” she said firmly, not angrily as such, she was just refusing to let you pretend what he’d done was okay.
“You shouldn’t have been dealing with all of this alone,” she added, her voice softening as her thumb gently traced beneath the cut on your face from the crash.
“I haven’t,” you said, trying to reassure her.
But it was a lie.
Since John, Simon, Johnny, and Kyle had left your hospital room, all you’d felt was alone.
And scared.
Scared for Y/f/n. For Y/a/n. For the four men who had walked away with pain etched into their eyes. For everyone else in your life who didn’t even know they’d suddenly become targets.
“Hmmm,” Y/a/n hummed, unconvinced. “Well, it doesn’t matter now. I’m here to support you.”
You wanted her to stay more than anything.
But she couldn’t.
The closer she was to you, the more danger she was in. You couldn’t risk her learning the truth.
“Phillip’s been taking really good care of me,” you said quickly, “And I’m okay, I promise. I’ll probably be going home any day now.”
As if on cue, Phillip re-entered the room, holding two cups of coffee and wearing that smug smile.
“I’ll just stay in a hotel in town,” your aunt replied, ignoring his presence almost entirely, “Just to make sure. Besides, it’s been a long time since we caught up properly.”
You forced a smile, hating yourself for what you were about to do, especially after how long it had been since you’d last seen her.
“Nonsense,” Phillip interrupted, handing her a coffee before passing the other to you. “You can stay with us, can’t she, honey?”
You opened your mouth, but no words came out.
“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Y/a/n agreed, nodding curtly in Phillip’s direction. “As long as that’s okay with you, Y/n/n?”
You didn’t trust yourself to speak, so you nodded. The forced smile stayed plastered on your face as your aunt pulled you into another careful hug, mindful of the coffee cups.
At first, you weren’t sure why Phillip had invited her to stay. You’d assumed he’d want her as far away as possible.
Then it hit you.
As long as she was here, you’d have to play pretend. You’d have to act like a couple in love.
And the closer she was to you, the easier it would be for him to hurt her if you stepped out of line.
Because having Y/f/n wasn’t enough.
He needed complete control over you, and threatening the people you loved was the only way to ensure you obeyed what he wanted...
What Shepherd wanted.
A wedding date.
And soon.
You wouldn’t be able to use Y/f/n waking up as a reason not to anymore. Phillip knew that.
Because if you said no…
He’d hurt Y/a/n too.
And you couldn’t take that risk.
The plan you had of trying to fix this situation yourself was becoming increasingly harder; how were you going to keep everyone safe and not marry him?
You needed to come up with a plan, and quickly, ideally before you were discharged from hospital. Which gave you a short time frame, seeing as that was either going to happen today; perhaps the day if you were lucky enough…
That was the one thought that remained burning in the back of your mind despite the hours that passed by. In amongst the mundane conversations your aunt brought up, thankfully you could use the reason for being slightly offish to the accident, even if that wasn’t the real reason you were seeming a little distant.
When the visiting hours for the day were done; you hugged your aunt goodbye, wishing that she would both stay with you here but equally wishing that she would go back home. She was going to stay in a hotel close to the hospital for the night, so Phillip had time to get the guest bedroom sorted. She also wanted to be closer to you in case you needed her for anything.
Then you hugged Phillip, his very touch on your skin made your insides curl; and then he placed a kiss on the top of your head; all you wanted to do was push him away, but you couldn’t, you had to paint a smile on your face and act like you were happy.
“Good job, honey ” he whispered, making the blood in your veins run cold, “hopefully you can get some rest tonight.”
You simply nodded, pulling away from his hug slightly, desperate to get away from his grip.
Thankfully, he took the hint and he, along with your aunt, left the room; leaving you with your thoughts.
You were staring outside of the window, hoping that you would be able to see Y/a/n get back to her car safely, not trusting Phillip to ensure her safety. Yes he made the plan to keep her here, but you were certain Shepherd wouldn’t be happy about it; and if Shepherd wasn’t happy, then your aunt wasn’t safe. The rain made it difficult to make out anyone so you had to open it, annoyingly it only opened so wide making it extremely difficult to see anything.
It wasn’t until you were scanning the cars you could see for Y/a/ns, that you noticed a pair of headlights flashing in the car park.
At first you didn’t pay it much attention; but it continued until your attention shifted back on the car, focusing on it entirely.
You were in disbelief at first.
Refusing to believe what conclusion your brain was coming to.
You continued to stare at the car, mainly to prove to yourself that what you were thinking was wrong.
But it wasn’t.
The sight in front of you was real; and the headlights weren’t just flashing in some random pattern.
Johnny and Simon had taught you morse code a few months after you started dating; in case of emergencies.
They taught you how to make out and signal the basics of more code; Johnny decided to take it upon himself to add one more word into your lesson.
Bon.
And that is what the headlights were saying in morse code.
Johnny was outside.
He was here.
And he wasn’t going to be alone; someone was going to be with him.
Part of you wanted to march down there and scream at him because what the hell was he thinking?
Any of them being here was such a risk.
What if Phillip found out?
What if he caught Johnny and whoever he was with outside whilst he was walking Y/a/n to the car?
Much to your relief the flashing of the headlights soon stopped; as though Johnny was reading your mind.
You hated that he and either Simon, John or Kyle were here.
But you also found some sort of comfort in knowing that you weren’t completely on your own; all you needed to do, was figure out how they could help you get out of this, without risking anyone’s life, because as much as you hated to admit it to yourself, you needed their help to get you out of this.
Been a little while since I did an update for this story, hoping to be posting some more chapters soon!
I hope you all enjoy this!💛
Please be kind, reblogs are always welcome and greatly appreciated! Thank you for all the continued support 💛
Catch up on the previous part here: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 /Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 / Part 14 / Part 15 / Part 16 / Part 18 / Part 19 / Part 20 / Part 21
Warnings: Angst, feelings of guilt, regret and helplessness, threats to life, blackmail, mentions of killing/death
COD Modern Warfare Masterlist /Taskforce 141 Masterlist /Join My Taglist
I do not give permission for any of my works to be copied or translated onto this site or other platforms!
The room was too quiet without Johnny and Kyle.
Their absence made their home feel hollow, as if the very air around them had given up on pretending as though things would be okay.
Both John and Simon knew that Johnny and Kyle’s sleep wouldn’t exactly be peaceful, that they’d still be suffering from the same pain that gnawed within their own insides.
John was still staring at the map on the wall; Simon was still scanning through the files, reading and then re-reading each one of them, just in case he’d missed anything during his first read through,
A sigh left his lips as he turned his attention to the computer screen, trying to cross reference locations mentioned in the files.
But there was nothing.
“Shepherd hasn’t touched any of the safe houses in months,” Simon murmured, the frustration clear in his low tone, “no activity, no movement, nothing,”
Just like last time.
John didn’t answer right away.
He just continued staring at the map in front of him, before turning to look at Simon, “he’s out there, watching, waiting…”
Simon leaned back in his chair, his back cracking a little as he did so, “Graves is going to be getting bolder now…”
“And we can’t do a damn thing about it, not without knowing where Shepherd is,”
Silence descended between the two of them again.
Thick.
Suffocating.
They felt useless.
Completely and utterly useless.
You were doing all of this for the people that you cared about, to keep them safe.
And that was enough to break them.
Simon picked up a half eaten protein bar that he’d tried to eat earlier in the evening, but he quickly tossed it back down again.
John noticed.
Of course he did.
And that made his heart ache even more.
A bitter chuckle fell from Johns mouth, “Remember how she used to yell at us for skipping meals when we were out on missions,”
A faint smile grew on Simon’s lips at the memory, “she always stashed extra packs of protein bars into our bags without telling us.”
“She was always thinking about us,” John muttered with a sadness in his eyes, “even when we didn’t deserve it.”
There was another pause.
Then Simon looked over at John, meeting his eyes, “We were wrong, breaking up with her,”
“I was wrong,” John corrected, only for Simon to shake his head in disagreement.
Simon understood John's guilt; but he wasn’t the only one that felt it and that’s because it wasn’t just johns who made the decision to break up with you.
Any of them could have said no or disagreed with John, but they couldn’t.
Because they all wanted to protect you.
Simon rose to his feet and walked over to John, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, “We all agreed to it, this isn’t just on you, John.”
John said nothing in response, he just gave Simon a small smile, wishing that his words were enough to ease the guilt he felt.
But they weren’t.
So he simply turned his attention back on the map in front of him.
“If she marries Graves-”
“We won’t let that happen,” Simon interrupted, not allowing John to finish his sentence.
“We have to be careful,” John said quietly, “if we move too early she could get hurt, if we move too late…”
He couldn’t bear to finish the sentence; the worst case scenario running through his head.
“We need to be smart,” Simon said, his voice low but steady, grounded, “we’ll use every contact we’ve got. Blackmail. Bribery. We’ll call in every favour we can, I don’t care. We’ll flush Shepherd out somehow,”
John met Simon’s eyes, “even if we have to burn the world down?”
Simon didn’t blink, “even if we have to burn the world down,”
The silence that followed was different.
Not a silence of despair but one of resolve.
“Get some water,” Simon said, breaking the silence between them, “you look like hell.”
John chuckled dryly; “feel like it,”
Simon continued to stare at the board whilst John vanished into the kitchen; studying every detail on the map.
Then a location came to mind.
One that he should’ve thought of sooner; but because it wasn’t in any of the files it slipped his mind.
It had been a new base that Graves had mentioned before the incident in Mexico…a secret training camp down in the Cotswolds.
He remembered Graves making a joke about having to learn how to like tea…
“What is it?” John asked, returning into the room with two glasses of water.
“Secret training camp down in the Cotswolds, it’s a long shot….but.”
“But it’s something,” John confirmed, placing the glasses on the table before reaching inside his pocket and calling Kate.
The call between them was brief; that’s all it needed to be, he just needed to tell her the information so that she could get as much information on the location as possible.
“Seems like there started being activity there about a week ago,” Kate confirmed, “surveillance is light but someone’s definitely keeping an eye on it, I’ll get you more as soon as I can.”
“Thanks Kate,” John said, hanging up the phone.
He didn’t need to hear anymore.
Neither did Simon.
What Kate had told them was enough for both of them.
It had to be Shepherd.
The timing and the secrecy of it all was too coincidental to be anyone else.
“We go dark. No transmissions. No patterns. Nothing until we know he’s there,”
Simon nodded at John’s words, determination clear in his eyes.
“And then we end this,” Simon said finitely, grabbing his skull mask from the table, putting it on quickly.
Just then, John's phone buzzed again.
A frown tugged at his lips as he picked it up, “Kate?”
“I was going through the hospital feeds from today...Graves brought someone in with him when he went there today,”
John froze at her words.
“Who?”
Simon's head snapped up at his question.
“Marcus Ortega; he works with Graves,”
John's hand tightened around the phone until his knuckles were turned white, “which means he works with Shepherd.”
“I’m sending you everything I can find on him,” Kate began before John could even ask.
“Be careful John,” was the last thing she said before the line went dead.
He didn’t hesitate. He turned on his heel and practically ran to the bedroom.
The creak of opening the bedroom door was enough to rouse Kyle; Johnny stirred a few seconds later, groaning and muttering some Gaelic swear words at the disturbance.
“We’ve got something,” John stated; those three words enough to almost immediately wake up his two drowsy partners
Johnny rubbed a hand down his face, swinging his legs round to the edge of the bed, “where?”
“Cotswolds,” Simon answered, appearing behind John, “there was activity at a secret training base there,”
“Then we go, now,” Johnny said, already pretty much dressed; he was raring to go, eager to kill Shepherd and end the nightmare you were enduring.
“There’s something else,” Simon began; halting the Scotsman’s movements, “Graves has someone staying with Y/n at the hospital, Marcus Ortega,”
“Son of a bitch…” Kyle mumbled under his breath as he pulled his shirt over his head.
They knew what that meant.
They had to split up.
One team to eliminate Shepherd.
One to eliminate Graves and Ortega afterwards and get you to safety.
“I’ll stay,” Kyle volunteered without any hesitation.
A few beats of silence passed, before Johnny nodded in agreement, “I’ll stay with Kyle,”
Staying meant two things.
He and Kyle got to make sure that you were safe.
And that they could both watch the light fade from Graves’ eyes when they finally killed him.
John took a few steps towards Johnny and Kyle, who was now at the Scotsman side, “We’ll let you know when it’s done,”
Johnny's eyes flicked between John and Simon, who was was still standing in the doorway, “Make him suffer,”
John simply lifted his hand to Johnny's shoulder, squeezing it a little, in a silent promise.
They were going to make him pay for everything.
For betraying them, for attempting to kill you, for what they did to Y/f/n.
And Kyle and Johnny were going to make sure Graves suffered in exactly the same way.
