Captain John Price x Reader

Thirty-Eight

"Where are we going?", you asked and stumbled after him.

One of his steps felt like two for you.

He was fast on his feet while walking into a direction as if he knew exactly where to go to.

A dark shimmer was visible in his eyes. He looked grim, almost angry.

Your eyes jumped through the crowd.

The woman had looked like any other, nothing particularly remarkable about her nor any special signs like birth marks or moles.

Her eyes were brown, you remembered that.

But in a crowd of well over thousand people it wasn't really hard to find brown eyes.

Skipping steps, you managed to keep up and find the same walking rhythm as Price.

Your free hand reached out to grab his biceps.

That way he was forced to slow down a little. Otherwise he would have made you fall.

"She's somewhere here.", he said and placed you on some stairs that were also serving people as seats.

You frowned and tried to spot her.

"Why are you so interested in a stranger?", you asked and glanced up to catch a glimpse of the medieval towers that were decorating the city halls.

A breath of admiration got stuck inside your throat.

The tiles of the roof were green. They must have been shiny copper once that had oxidised over decades until all that was left were bluish green squares.

The stones that it was build with was also starting to turn black.

But something was off.

Sometimes, between rows of bricks and tiles, were shimmering small silver knobs.

"What is that?", you patted Price's shoulder to get his attention. "Do you see that?"

His eyes moved to you, rested on your face for a moment, before moving on to where you were pointing.

"Cameras?", he asked, eyes squinted.

"That many?"

"Right. Would be too much."

With a low hum you started to chew on the inside of your cheek.

Your eyes jumped through the crowd again.

All of a sudden he shifted.

Out of reflex, you placed a hand on his shoulder.

He froze, stopped and didn't move anymore.

All he did was stand still and wait until your body language would release him.

For a moment you needed to look at him.

Why did you feel this way all of a sudden?

Why did you feel like if you'd let go of him he'd run off like a guard dog?

You didn't want him to leave your side.

Yet again, it seemed strange that he listened to you all of a sudden.

He acted out of trust.

But what reason did he have to trust you?

After all, sometimes you couldn't even trust yourself.

"John.", you could feel how he moved below your fingers as his name left your lips. "Please stick with my plan. Let's call the police and then act. It's not about the mission, but the people."

His shoulders tensed as he took a deep breath in.

You didn't expect him to give in.

Captain John Price was marked as a man with pride. His files said that he had a strong sense of duty, but liked to proceed on his own terms.

Even Laswell had advised you not to have a different opinion on things because he'd always end up with the long end of the stick.

But this time he seemed to deem his pride and duty less worth than the safety of thousands.

Without saying a single word he reached into his pocket, pulled out the flip phone you had dropped and handed it over his shoulder.

You grabbed it, but hesitated to pull away.

"Captain?", you asked.

Somehow you wanted to hear that he approved.

You wanted him to say that there was nothing wrong with your way of thinking and he'd do it the same way.

But he didn't.

Instead, his head turned so that he was able to glance at you from the corner of his eyes.

Bright blue hit you.

A shiver crawled down your spine.

But as it faded goosebumps grew and left a feeling of warmth and comfort.

"It's John.", he said and smiled softly. "And don't worry, luv. I'm not mad. We need to compromise to make this work."

It sounded like he was trying to make a relationship work.

And in a way he did try exactly that.

He tried to make this work relationship work.

Despite the rocky start that the two of you had and the fact that you weren't his preferred kind of company, he offered a compromise.

It was a step towards your direction.

And now it was your turn to walk towards him and meet in the middle.

Because that's what people did.

They took and they gave.

A sigh escaped your lips.

"Fine.", you typed in the emergency number of Laswell. "I won't call the police."

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Good toffee.", he hummed. "Now be a dearie and hand me Laswell. I've got a thing or two to talk about with her."

Confused over the new nickname, you froze for a moment.

His hand was stretched out, opened, so that you would hand over the phone.

A ringing sound filled your ears.

But all you could focus on was the edge of his face that unmanaged to see from the side.

Again, it rang.

The noise of the crowd filled the air.

A third time it rang.

And Price still didn't lower his hand.

He was waiting patiently for you to make the first move.

"You know this is for emergencies, right?", Laswell's voice asked in a tone that said it all.

You snapped out of your thoughts.

"I know.", you said.

"This is your one and only call."

"I know."

"Are you sure-?"

"Cut it, Katie. We need your support. Immediately."

The other end of the line fell silent for a moment.

"Where is John?", she suddenly asked.

Something inside your chest pulled together.

It hurt your pride to know that she preferred John's opinion over yours.

He turned around and took the phone out of your hand.

"My partner and I made a decision.", he said with a smirk. "Code orange. It's urgent."