Ghost picking up Red under one arm, Roach under the other.
He tossed the pair on a poor unsuspecting Gaz.
"'think you lost some idiots."
He walks off, leaving Gaz under two horny idiots, making out on top of him. He doesn't seem to care, not even when Gaz screams for help or when Roach sciences him with something that was probably a kiss.
If Gaz hunts him down with a limp in his step and murder in his eyes... Well that's Ghost's problem and no one else's.
Summary: A mission goes wrong, a squad is wiped out, or so they thought until they found him in that lab. They tested him. Monitored him. Failed to classify him. His blood never settled. It shifted, evolved. A true chimera. Roach. The nickname stuck–something between sarcasm and survival. The indestructible pest. The thing that shouldn’t be alive and yet is. Now he is trying to survive the hellscape of his mind. But healing is a long journey, even with the help of his past.
Rating: I am thinking I will keep it Mature, much like the first just cause of the triggers.
Pairings: Roach/Fem!OC Veronica Crowe, Ghost/Soap, past Ghost/Roach, past Price/Ghost, past polycule Price/Ghost/Roach, Gaz/Price, past/current polycule Soap/Ghost/Price/Gaz, possible polycule of everyone. I love a complicated relationship mostly because I just like writing and reading them, I could not image having just a complicated one.
⚠️Warning⚠️: This story deals with non-consensual body modification/human experimentation, and healing from trauma. Definitely going to be a lot of talk about PTSD and how there are so many different types of it and how people heal isn't linear nor is it going to be the same for every person, nor should you try to be the hero for someone who is healing simply out of guilt.
Word count: 428 of 1200 (rest of the chapter can be read on A03)
A03 Link
Enjoy!
Waking to the feel of steel strapped against his flesh was not a new sensation, and yet somehow it burned in a way he had never felt. It was like holding his arm over an open flame, not enough to blister but enough to hurt and instinctively try to pull away-but he couldn't. His vision swam, blinking through the white light to see into the white room that surrounded him. This was new, no acridic scent assaulted his senses, no blood staining broken tiles, nothing to focus on as the scientist cut into him.
The beasts in his bloodstream writhed, sluggish and angry, lashing at his insides, but in those few seconds between sleep and awake, he was Gary.
But the moment shattered.
It always did.
Pain followed, each thing fighting to take over. It started low-deep in his bones-then spread outward, a slow, crawling heat that turned molten in seconds. His back arched against the restraints with a strangled gasp, tendons pulling tight enough to snap, claws burst from his hands, fur and scales fighting for space where there was skin, his pupils dilating and constricting between round and vertical slits.
His jaw clenched, teeth grinding as something sharp forced its way along his gums before receding again. A growl bubbled up his throat, wrong in pitch, layered-like more than one voice was trying to speak through the same mouth.
Hungry.
Hurt.
KILL.
The metal groaned, biting into his flesh until he could smell his own blood and burning skin, feeling the tearing of his skin. Whatever new metal the scientist acquired hurt almost as bad as when he put liquid silver in his veins just to see how he’d react.
Where there had been no scent suddenly a pungent sweet fragrance filled the air in a shimmering mist, the beast raged as his body sagged and then peaceful darkness.
This cycle happened three more times.
The metal was replaced the next time, but when he broke them the sweet gasses appeared again.
The second time his body nearly ripped itself apart. And again the gas.
Third, there were no chains, only the tantalizing aroma of food. The need to eat outweighed the war for dominance in his blood, demanding he sate the gnawing hunger in his gut that had been ignored for too long. Talons dragged and dug into the ground as he lunged at the food with teeth and claws, a thick tail slapping at the floor, ripping into the meat till the juices trailed his chin. A rumble of contentment rattled in his chest.
wolfYLady: You made it to the end, if you like it please read the rest on A03. Also a little nod to The Boys (the gasses they use on the heroes to knock them out).
Roach didn't find Crow anywhere on base, training room? No one, the mess hall? Why would he even be here. Every single usually place he goes, even the med bay, there was no Crow. He really didn't want to have to go check his room. But it was worrisome. He's been looking for him all morning.
So here he was, standing in front of his room, not knowing if he should knock or not. But he had to, when no one answered he sighed and entered without permission and he was glad he did, because Crow couldn't go out of this mess on his own this time. His room reeks of cigarette, making Roach gags, and the man he had been searching all morning was on his own bed, puffy red eyes, trying to wipe away his tears, but he mostly looked like he was fighting with himself. His usually black shirt was off, tossed on the bed like some trash and his hair were untied and messed up. He was still wearing his binder, and another one on top of it. It was one of those day.
Roach sat next to him, patient, calm. And he started patting his back, guiding him into a deserved hug. Crow finally let himself cry all the tears he had in his body, soaking Roach shoulder, but Roach didn't care, if his friend needed to cry, he was his shoulder to cry on. He knew it was harsh, someday everything come crashing down for no particular reason. He put Crow's legs around his waist to make him more comfortable. And he let his harsh throat whisper some words. "You're strong, don't forget to love yourself… I love you…" He let his fingers run along his back, writing down the last words on his skin and Crow wished nothing more than have those words carved into his body.
His breathing started to steady, and Roach helped him remove one of his binder, finally letting himself breath. With a saddened gaze, Roach looked at his arms, the scars were open and blood run down on the sheet.
Roach patted Crow's back and took some bandages, he cleaned the wounds and dressed them. 'Did you eat something today?' he signed and Crow shook his head. Gary sighed and put him down on his bed, putting his blanket over him. He came back with a sandwich and some snacks, Crow thanked him and started to eat, little bit per little bit, his body protested, he probably skipped his meals a bit too much.
Roach let him eat, silently, before clearing up his throat, "You're a pretty boy…"
Crow looked at him with big shocked eyes and laughed it off. "You're joking I'm an ugly mess, you're the pretty boy!" And he booped Roach's nose.
And Roach went back to being silent but with a big smile this time, he made his friend laugh, and he had the most beautiful man he ever saw in front of him, it was all he ever wanted.
A/N: first time posting a fanfic on tumblr, idk how to feel about the color stuff tho, anyway I hope you liked it :D
I love Snail! She reminds me of those tiktoks of people wandering their local forests and patting moss. She definitely gives off wood elf / nature fae vibes, and I love that for her 🖤
Also her callsign reminds me of a silly handshake / greeting I sometimes do lol right before knuckles meet, I extend two fingers into a peace sign to mimic eyestalks and yell "SNAIL"
- Biscuits 🌺
Biscuits !! 💚 You get it. She’s a mischievous little nature fae who loves rain and bad puns.
She’s the kind of person to do these « going on a hike for my stupid mental health » videos except she can’t stop giggling and jumping around with the music instead of pretending to be grumpy.
(She’s lost count of the number of times she got distracted by something and almost forgot her phone on the side of the trail.)
Also that handshake seems a whole lot of fun tbh, I can really imagine her do it to the guys ! She probably started it with Roach, Soap or Kyle - or maybe with the three of them, before being brave enough to do it with Ghost and Price once after a mission. And it stuck.
She probably found a way to include other friendly critters in that handshake when she wants a change from literally yelling her own callsign.
« Frog ! »
« Cricket ! »
« Raccoon ! »
« Ant ! »
« Ye doin’ the whole forest, wee bonnie ? »
Snail perks up a this, her smile widening.
« I think you gave her an idea, Soap. »
For some reason, I can imagine Roach being really good at mimicking animals with his hands. You know, playing with shadows and stuff ? They probably have a blast with this ever since they noticed the actual shadows made by these handshakes. They probably change the moves it order to actually make the handshake make sense when you look at said shadows.
Thank you for your ask Biscuits, I hope you don’t mind me stealing that handshake idea to use with my friends now 🐌
