Archive of Our Own ^beta

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DECEMBER 24th

Ghost sits at the table in the rec room, watching Soap try and decorate one of the gingerbread cookies Ghost had baked earlier in the day.

"That looks....so bad....." Gaz teases, Soap turning and glaring at him.

"I'm fucking trying you dick, this is harder than it looks!" Soap whines, food dye staining his fingers as Ghost smiles at him.

"I'll try, are there any more?" Gaz asks, looking at the counter.

"Should be, I made a good amount. Laswell took some before she left to go home." Ghost explains, Gaz grabbing one of the cookies and walking over to where Soap has all the frosting.

Ghost watches Soap and Gaz decorate the cookies, Soap making one look like Ghost.

"Si, Si, Si, look. It's you." Soap snickers, holding up the cookie.

The icing is a little runny, some of the icing running down the cookie as Soap holds it towards Ghost. Ghost rolls his eyes, his eyes crinkling in the corners since his mask hides his smile. Gaz chants for Soap to look over, holding up a gingerbread Soap. Its lopsided and the vest isn't quite right but you can tell it's Soap by the two BRIGHT blue blobs of frosting for the eyes. Soap bursts out laughing, seeing the frosting for the eyes melting and makes it look like the gingerbread Soap is crying. Ghost shakes his head, watching the two start laughing and giggling as they plan out other cursed cookie ideas. Ghost leans back, shaking his head while Soap and Gaz work on making more decorated cookies. He stands up and heads to his room, passing some recruits talking about visiting family or are just excited to go home and spend some time away from base. Ghost steps into his room and closes the door, his back to it. Some gifts for the rest of the squad are on his desk, unwrapped and in desperate need of being packaged or wrapped. He walks forward to his closet and grabs the roll of wrapping paper. Price's gift seems the easiest to wrap, a decent sized box of cigars and sets it down on the wrapping paper. The wrapping job on Price's gift is...okay. It looks poor on the back but the front looks smooth enough. Ghost grabs a marker and writes down Price's name. Gaz's gift is next, a new hat that hides a leather bracelet. The wrapping job is much more Ghost's speed, somewhat blobby and doesn't need to be perfect. Soap's gift though...Ghost wants to make sure it's as good as it can get. He knows he can't wrap it the way he wants so he goes to find Price and as him for help. Ghost stands up and heads to Price's office, knocking on the door with Soap's gift tucked inside of his jacket. Price moves some stuff around before opening the door, seeing Ghost standing there.

"Do you need something?" Price asks, Ghost nodding before holding out the gift he had gotten for Soap.

"I need help wrapping this, I...I'm not good at it." Ghost explains, Price shaking his head with a smile.

"I'm just as bad, maybe worse. I use bags half the time, can't wrap for shit. Go ask Gaz, he's a gift wrap god for some reason." Price explains, Ghost groaning before turning to leave.

"The goal is to not have Soap see it, and Gaz is decorating cookies with him."

"I can text Gaz, he'll be here soon."

Price text Gaz, Ghost watching Gaz round the corner in less than a minute.

"You need something?" Gaz asks, his shirt covered in drying frosting.

"Need you to help Ghost wrap something. Can't say anything to anyone." Price explains, Gaz seeing Ghost holding a sketchbook and some charcoal pencil that arent sharpened.

".....gotcha. Here, I'll be back in maybe...ten minutes?" Gaz smiles, Ghost trailing after him while Price shakes his head with a smile.

Ghost walks behind Gaz, recruits walking away from Gaz when they see the Lieutenant walking behind him like a human shield. Gaz steps into his room and shuts the door after Ghost walks in.

"So...what did you get Price?" Gaz asks, grabbing some wrapping paper he has in his quarters.

"Box of good cigars." Ghost explains, watching Gaz barely try and wrap the items but they somehow comes out damn near perfect.

"Huh, he'll save them for special occasions, hope you know that." Gaz smiles, handing Ghost the two wrapped gifts.

"...........thank you Gaz. I'm glad Price texted you."

"Yeah, not a problem. Was a good reminder I need to wrap the other gifts"

Ghost nods and leaves the room, heading towards his room. Once in his room and the door is closed, his phone rings. He grabs it from his pocket and sees Tommy's contact image filling the screen. Ghost pulls his mask off as he answers the call, Tommy sitting on the floor while he and Beth work on wrapping some Christmas gifts.

"There he is! Hows base life going?" Tommy asks, Ghost sitting on his bed.

"Fine, wrapped gifts. I had Gaz help me, I can't wrap gifts for the life of me. Look at the back of the one I wrapped for Price." Ghost sighs, showing the back of Price's gift.

"You'll get the hang of it, no harm in it looking a little messy." Beth adds with a smile, putting a piece of tape on part of the gift in her hand.

"I...wanted to make sure that Soap's looks nice...first Christmas with him." Ghost admits, Beth and Tommy sharing a look.

"Even if it was in a BAG, he'd like it. Remember, thought that counts." Tommy smiles, Ghost nodding as he sets down Soap's gift.

"Any of Beth's family visting?" Ghost asks, hearing Tommy's door open.

"Am I interupting a call?" a soft voice asks, Ghost falling silent at the sound.

"Nope, you can come in. The person on the phone is someone you probably want to see." Tommy explains, handing the phone to the person who walked in.

Ghost is in tears at this point, watching his mom's face appear. His mom looks down at the screen, seeing Ghost holding back from crying.

"Simon...?" Ghost's mom, Eleanor, mumbles, seeing just Ghost's hair since he's hiding his face.

"Hi mom......" Ghost chokes out, lifting his head to show his face.

Scars litter his face, one cutting through his left eyebrow whine another pulls back part of his top lift to show off his teeth. The Glasgow smile scars are the most visible, as well as the one on the bridge of his nose from getting it broken so aggressively. The other scars are from falling, shrapnel, knife fights and people wearing gloves that are modified.

"Oh my sweet Si, what have you gotten yourself into? Tommy hasn't told me much." Eleanor asks, worried Ghost is in prison.

"No, no, mom, I'm in the army...I'm part of the British special forces, I'm an SAS member." Ghost explains, Eleanor calming down a little at the mention he's safe. "I'm at the base, I didn't leave for the holidays."

"Still, that's a very unsafe job Si. And you've been a pretty sensitive person." Eleanor frowns, Ghost sighing.

"I've grown out of it, I had to quickly after everything years ago. I had to deal with something that really made me...toughen up besides what dad did."

"Simon, if you're at risk and getting hurt, maybe you should retire."

"Mom, I can't. I have a contract that needs to expire before I can consider retiring. I have a good team helping me stay safe."

"I am allowed to worry about my son, you can't deny me that."

"I know mom, I know. Just...I've been looking after myself for a while and I can keep doing so. But thank you for worrying."

Ghost talks with his mom for a while, heading into his bathroom and taking his contact out and put his glasses on.

"I need to go, I'm having dinner with some of my squad mates." Ghost explains, his glasses on as he adjusts them since they're loose and need to be fixed.

"Be safe Si, I'll try and talk to you again before the year ends." Eleanor sighs, smiling at Ghost as he walks towards the door of his room.

"I will...I love you mom, thank you for calling. I've missed you and I'm sorry I never tried to contact you. A lot of stuff happened and I couldn't immedietly contact you OR Tommy." Ghost mumbles, Eleanor smiling at him through the phone.

"I love you too Simon, thank you for protecting who you love."

Ghost mumbles another goodbye before ending the call. He stands inside of his room before grabbing the neck garter and pulls it on before leaving his room. He walks through the hall, hearing Soap and Gaz arguing over something from the rec room.

"There is NO way you got that one year!!" Soap whines, Gaz laughing as he grabs his phone.

"I did!! It's in a storage unit for now but SUCK IT!!" Gaz laughs, showing Soap something on his phone.

Ghost walks over, Price smiling at him before turning back to what Soap and Gaz are talking about. On Gaz's phone is a photo of him and a motorcycle, Gaz holding a helmet and the keys to the bike.

"Wait, I have one too." Ghost says, Soap and Gaz looking over as Ghost grabs his phone.

He pulls up a photo of him on a cruiser motorcycle, the helmet a skull while he wears a padded jacket and pants. Someone on a different type of motorcycle is riding next to him, Ghost swiping to different photo that is him with his helmet off next to his bike while the photo reveals Price was riding with him, helmet in his lap while still on his motorcycle.

"YOU RIDE?!" Gaz blurts out, looking at Price.

"I don't ride much anymore, it's sitting in the hangar with Ghost's bike." Price explains, Ghost smiling at him.

"I saw Nik steal it to go for a ride." Ghost taunts, Price looking at him.

"He did fucking not." Price states, his voice flat.

"I fucking did." Nikolai adds, sitting on the couch with his feet kicked up and holding a beer while eating a gingerbread cookie.

Price marches over and starts to lecture Nikolai, Ghost sitting with Soap and Gaz.

"Thanks for joining us, was expecting you to be in your room." Soap smiles, an empty plate in front of him while Gaz has one in front of him too.

"Been feeling better about the holiday so why not spend some of the time with you all." Ghost shrugs, Gaz standing up and getting Ghost a plate of food.

Price gives up and throws his hands in the air, Nikolai smiling as he watches Price walk off. Price sits down with the others, his arm crossed as he mumbles about Nikolai.

"Are we still doing the gift exhange?" Ghost asks, Price looking at him with a smile.

"Tomorrow morning we're doing the gift exhange." Price explains, Ghost nodding as he eats.

"Hand me your glasses, they're loose at the screws." Gaz says, Ghost taking his glasses off before handing them to Gaz.

Ghost watches as Gaz finishes tightening the screws before handing them back to Ghost. Ghost puts them back on, Soap laughing as Ghost shakes his head back and forth to check to see if his glasses will fly off immedietly.

"....good." Ghost laughs, Soap shaking his head with a smile

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DECEMBER 25th

Ghost shuffles through the halls, wearing some pajama pants with cartoony skulls on them while he has a sweater on that he has knitted. The gifts he/Gaz wrapped are in his hands as he walks, seeing Price walking towards the rec room while brushing some snow off of his jacket since he had gone outside to smoke.

"You're the second one up, want to go get Soap? Gaz is in the rec room already." Price explains, taking his jacket off.

"Alright, I'll be back in a second then." Ghost shrugs, walking towards Soap's room.

Getting there, Ghost can't help but smile when he hears Soap arguing with wrapping paper.

"Why the ever loving shit can't you BEND??" Soap whines, Ghost leaning against the doorway before knocking on the door.

It takes a second before Soap pulls the door open, looking at Ghost.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" Soap asks, Ghost leaning down and stealing a kiss despite the neck garter he's wearing.

"Woke up. Gaz and Price are in the rec room, you ready to head there?" Ghost hums, standing straighter while crossing his arms.

"Oh, yeah! I am!" Soap smiles, walking back into his room before grabbing the gifts he wrapped.

Soap walks with Ghost, Ghost holding Soap's hand as they walk. They can be a little more open with all of the recruits gone or off base for the day. The two step into the rec room, seeing Gaz sitting in Price's lap while they both drink coffee. Neither Soap nor Ghost say anything, Gaz swinging his legs while Price has a hand on Gaz's waist. The two are talking about something, neither Soap nor Ghost understanding since they aren't exactly paying attention.

"Are we opening presents or staring lovingly at each other?" Soap asks, Gaz laughing as he leans forward and Price shakes his head.

"Yeah, we are. Come on over you muppets." Price sighs, Ghost walking over after grabbing what he had gotten for the others.

Ghost hands Gaz his gift, Gaz raising an eyebrow while pulling at the wrapping paper. Under the wrapping paper is a new baseball hat, Gaz laughing since his other one has a bullet hole in it and is worn to hell and back.

"Theres more, its hidden." Ghost says, Gaz giving him a questioning look before reaching into the hat.

"OH! A bracelet!" Gaz smiles, looking at it.

"It's a leather cuff, Alex wears them. I...asked him for suggestions." Ghost explains, Gaz smiling.

"It's cool, I like it! I can't wear a lot of stuff but this I might be able to wear."

Ghost smiles, picking at his nails a little before Soap grabs one of Ghost's hands to keep him from picking at his nails. Price is handed his gift next, Ghost squeezing Soap's hand as Price pulls at the wrapping paper.

"Holy fuck you did not...." Price mumbles, pulling the rest of the wrapping paper off.

"I did. Again, had Alex ship them to me since he's on the states. I REFUSE TO ASK GRAVES FOR HELP." Ghost states, his tone firm.

"What's special about those cigars?" Soap asks, looking at the brand name.

"Arturo Fuente is from the states and has from a farm in the Dominican Republic. They started in the states and have still have a store there but they moved to the DR." Price explains, looking at the box before opening it and pulling out one of the cigars.

Ghost hands Soap his gifts, Ghost smiling as Soap opens them. The charcoal pencils are opened first, Soap smiling more as he opens the new sketchbook.

"Thanks Si, was needing a new sketchbook. I've been wanting to learn how to use charcoal, pencils are nice." Soap smiles, leaning over and kissing Ghost's cheek. "ALRIGHT, MINE NEXT!"

Gaz laughs at Soap smacking a hand against the table before standing up and grabbing what he got for everyone. He hands Gaz and Price their gifts before handing Ghost his. Gaz rips at the wrapping paper to reveal a framed sketch spread of Gaz. It has a figure drawing of Gaz in his gear, a sketch of him in a car and a larger portrait of him fixing his hat.

"Did you draw all of us?" Gaz asks, Soap nodding as Price opens his gift.

Soap had draw a small figure drawing of Price leaning back in his chair with his hat covering his face, a drawing of him smoking and a larger half body of Price holding his vest while facing to the left of the page. Ghost opens his gift next, seeing two framed drawings. One is a watercolor painting of Ghost with his mask off, an ink drawing the base with color slapped on in the general area they should be. The second one is a smaller spread of Ghost holding his pistol up to check chamber, one of his sharpening his knife and a larger one of him in his mask with his head tilted back slightly with red penned in blood "sprayed" across his mask/face. Ghost smiles, ruffling Soap's hair as he looks at the drawing spread and painting.

"Alright, me next." Price says, grabbing some smaller gifts for everyone.

Soap opens his present first, seeing that Price had gotten him some padded gloves.

"Is this cause I punced something and whined that my hand hurt?" Soap laughs, Price nodding with a smile.

"Oh yes, I did. You would not stop whining about how bad your knuckles hurt." Price taunts, Gaz opening his gift.

"FUCK YOU. FUCK YOU." Gaz yells, Soap and Ghost looking at him and the gift he was given.

In Gaz's hand is a small box, no larger than a single egg carton. It's a wooden box with a hinge, Price leaning his chin in the palm of his hand as he smiles.

"You need to open the box Kyle." Price smiles, Gaz opening the box.

Soap leans into Ghost's space, thankful that Gaz turns the box around the show them. Inside the box is a simple, thick silver ring, Soap staring at it for a moment before looking from Gaz to Price and back to Gaz.

"........did you just propose to Gaz?" Soap asks, Price nodding while still smiling at Gaz.

"He knows the answer, I said I wouldn't answer him verbally until I got a ring." Gaz explains, putting the ring on since he doesn't have to hide it for the time being.

"Well damn, I need to catch up to you two." Ghost smiles, Soap staring at him with wide eyes.

Ghost ignores Soap and opens his gift from Price, seeing a pair of sunglasses which makes him laugh.

"Oh god, the same type I wore years ago..." Ghost laughs, shaking his head before putting them on before holding his hands up. "And I am now blinded."

Soap and Gaz start laughing, Price shaking his head before hiding his face. Gaz hands his gifts to the others, Price opening his and seeing a thick gold ring before putting it on and knocking the rings together. Soap opens his, seeing a bracelet made from an old vest strap which makes him smile.

"From the first vest you wore when you joined. Armory is probably mad I ripped up a vest." Gaz laughs, Soap laughing too.

"All worth it, I like it!" Soap laughs, Ghost opening his present from Gaz.

Ghost pulls our a new neck garter, noticing that it's crocheted using a balck yarn and a while one.

"Thanks Garrick, been looking for a warmer one." Ghost smiles, not wearing any facial coverings.

The four talk about their plans for New Years, Ghost mentioing he might call Tommy and do shots together over video call. Soap asks to join, Ghost allowing him to join when the time comes.