More Than Human

Chapter 47: A Hole in A Tree

As nervous as Soap was about returning to Scotland, he had to say that it felt good to be back. When they stepped outside he closed his eyes and breathed in deep through his nose. The smell made him feel very comforted and warm on the inside.

They weren't staying on a base this time, but a little house Price and Laswell had gotten access to. Soap and Rudy had been two peas in a pod on the drive there. Both scanning the landscape as it flew past outside the window.

"It looks quite different from Las Almas." Rudy commented.

"Aye. It is kinda different." Soap agreed. "Don't leave your city much, eh?"

He chuckled, "I haven't been out of Mexico since I was taken from the gulf."

When they arrived at the little house, they quickly unpacked and Price hopped back onto his call with Laswell. They wouldn't go to the next lab until the following day. Price wanted to make sure they knew as much as they could about where they were heading. He had been in the first lab, but this location was totally unknown.

"So, Soap, what kind of things did you used to do growing up?" Alejandro asked him as they all sat around in the living room.

"Uh..." Soap sighed, "Nothing super interesting. We weren't really allowed out much. I mostly spent time in the woods. Got in trouble with fireworks a few times."

Ghost snorted, "You clearly haven't changed much."

Soap shrugged, "What was I supposed to do, LT? Grow outta perfection?"

The team laughed at his wide grin.

"Well, I wouldn't mind getting some fresh air." Gaz offered, "As long as we forgo the fire hazard part."

Soap thought about it for a moment. His head was feeling better now, and the thought of getting outside after being on the plane sounded great.

He pushed himself up from his seat, "Alright then lads. Let's head out so Gaz can make some new friends."

Gaz got up and gave him a little shove, "Oh shut up."

It was a little overcast outside, and looked like it was going to rain. But for now, they looped around the back of the house to wander amongst the trees for a bit. As much as Gaz denied it, he was instantly starting up a chatty conversation with a few of the bigger trees.

Soap considered shifting so that he could really stretch his legs, but Ghost had their arms linked together, and he wasn't ready to be done with that just yet. Maybe later.

For now, they walked alongside Rudy and Alejandro.

"So when did you two get together?" Ghost asked.

"A couple years after we met." Alejandro told him, "Rudy apparently had a crush on me awhile before that, though."

Rudy scoffed, "If by awhile you mean since the first day we met? Then yes. I didn't say anything for a long time because I didn't want to put any pressure on him, or make him feel like I was influencing him."

There was a brief pause before he continued, "Not to mention he had a girlfriend when we met."

Soap momentarily pulled away from Ghost to walk backwards and look at them, "Really?"

Alejandro looked suddenly grumpy, "Sí."

"Sorry, Ale. I shouldn't have brought her up." Rudy apologized.

"No. It's fine, amor." Alejandro huffed.

Soap chuckled, "Sounds like she must have been a real bitch."

There was silence that followed and both Rudy and Alejandro looked a little awkward. Soap glanced between the two before a theory formed in his head.

"No shit! You and Valeria?"

Alejandro groaned and let his chin fall to his chest, "Unfortunately yes."

"No wonder she seemed to hate Rudy's guts!"

"Soap. Leave the happy couple alone." Ghost chastised.

"No, no, he's fine, Lieutenant." Rodolfo assured, "He's right too. In a way she's sort of responsible for getting us together."

"How?" Ghost asked, officially sucked in.

Rudy looked at Alejandro, who sighed and began to explain, "Her Sight. She was able to see that I was in love before I even realized. I probably would still be stupid and dense if she hadn't finally cracked and yelled at me about it."

"After he and Valeria broke things off we danced around each other for a bit." Rudy explained further, "He didn't want me to feel pressured into anything since he was the one who had taken responsibility for feeding and caring for me. And I didn't want to swoop in right after a break up."

"Sounds like a tv drama." Ghost commented.

Rudy laughed, "You're right about that. I'm just glad we finally got over ourselves."

Alejandro nodded, "It was worth all of the teenage angst and pining for mí Rudy. And a little bit for me. How many men have the pleasure of kissing a beautiful siren whenever the mood strikes them and live to do it again?"

Rudy blushed at his teasing and was about to tell him off when he noticed Soap had begun to stray away from them a bit.

"¿Qué haces, perrito?"

Ghost quickly looked up as well to see Soap walking toward another large tree. It had a small open hollow in its side.

"Johnny!" He called out to him, but Soap didn't turn around, just continued forward, a little shaky..

His sergeant walked until he was right in front of the tree's opening before his knees seemed to give out and he flopped down into the dead leaves of the forest floor. Ghost hurried over to him.

Soap honestly couldn't tell if it was the tree, the feeling of the rain starting, or both that had set his brain off. All he knew was that he was scared. He was much smaller, younger. He heard a gunshot ring out and a wolf's brains splattered across a wooden floor in front of him.

His father?

Before he could hear the sound of the body hitting the floor he was being lifted by his scruff by a second wolf and they were bursting outside. He momentarily processed two smaller wolf bodies beside the door.

There was yelling and the smell of unfamiliar people all around. The wolf carrying him was faster than them, but their numbers were obviously far greater.

He wasn't sure how long they ran for, but they suddenly skidded to a halt by a tree and he was being shoved into a hole. He whined and yelped, but the wolf, his mother, gave a stern rumble that told him to stay and be quiet. She gave a parting lick to the top of his head and ran in the other direction.

Holy ow.

He groaned and tentatively blinked open his eyes to find himself wrapped around Ghost like a koala. Arms slung around the back of his neck, legs wrapped around his waist, and face pressed into his neck. They were, he realized, moving.

"Steamin' hell."

"You back with us, Puppy?" Ghost asked, bringing a hand up to cradle the back of his head.

"Aye. M'back." He lifted his head slightly to look around and found Rudy, Alejandro, and Gaz walking alongside Ghost, looking at him, extremely concerned, "Sorry 'bout that, Lads. Didnae mean to frighten ya."

Rudy stepped a little closer to ruffle his mohawk, "Don't worry about it, hermano. We're almost back to the house."

"Feel free to go to sleep now, Lovely. When we get there I won't be letting go of you for awhile." Ghost rumbled.

And this time, Soap didn't argue.