More Than Human

Chapter 50: Trappers

They had gone back to the house and Soap had gone into he and Ghost's room to curl up and sleep off... well, everything really.

His head hurt, and his heart hurt, and he felt like he had just run a marathon. His mind kept flashing with images that made him feel sick. He felt a little pathetic, curled up in his sweaty work clothes, face buried in an old and dirty baby blanket, and he was laid out on top of the sheets. He hadn't even bothered to climb in.

At some point Ghost joined him. Wrapped his arms around Soap and cradled him to his chest. Ghost must have been paying attention when he told him that he liked how his teeth felt. He didn't feed on Soap, but he mouthed at his neck, letting his teeth gently scrape against his skin. He felt something warm in his chest as he drifted in and out of sleep, letting out a deep and rumbling purr. He was starting to understand that Ghost was extremely serious about his role. It was comforting to know that, no matter what he learned or experienced, Simon would have him.

Simon would be there.

He was feeling a little better in the morning. Not as plagued by images and memories. But his head still hurt, which he was beginning to grow weary of, and he was extremely tired. As if whatever sleep he had gotten had done nothing to aid him.

The team could clearly tell, but Soap wanted to go to that address today. They knew he was right. Time was of the essence if they were going to track down Makarov's current location. Which meant they would probably need to leave Scotland soon. As soon as Laswell wired through the map of lab locations that they had found.

The address led them to what was practically a shack in the woods. It was all old rotting wood, and sagging supports. It looked like part of the roof had collapsed from the rain at some point.

Soap's mind flitted with memories, but these were much warmer. Wrestling with his siblings outside in the leaves, hide and seek in the trees, sneaking up and pouncing on whichever parent was nearby.

They stepped up the creaking old porch and approached the busted screen door that was hanging from its hinges. Ghost froze before they entered, suddenly remembering Soap's last memory of the place. It was hard to know the state of decay of werewolves, outside or otherwise. And his father and siblings had perished here.

He turned around to face them, "Why don't you all explore the surrounding woods a bit? I'll clear the inside."

"I'll come with you." Price nodded in understanding.

They slipped into the shack before Soap could argue.

The rest of the team stayed on the porch for a bit, eyes scanning the trees. Before Gaz brightened with an idea.

"You think you could find the tree where your mom hid you?" He asked Soap, "I could probably talk to them."

"Um, maybe." Soap shrugged, but hopped down the steps all the same.

He started by looping around the side of the building, he vaguely remembered leaving through a side door. Sure enough, there it was. Seems his memory was still accurate at least. He began walking into the forest, Gaz, Alejandro, and Rudy following close behind. This was harder. Because he had been carried before, and everything was so frantic. And the woods changed. Plants grew and died, weather worked at the land. So there were slight changes to the terrain. He did his best to overlay the image of he and his mother's mad dash into the forest with their current much quieter walk.

He had been so focused on moving forward, halfway in his memories, he nearly walked straight into a tree. Alejandro caught him before he could fall on his ass. He shot him a grateful look before moving to start walking again when he did a double take. He looped around the tree, and crouched down on the other side. He moved a load of leaves and brush out of the way and found the hollow. It was between the roots and moved up into the actual tree just slightly.