More Than Human

Chapter 27: More Than You

Johnny was going to put him in an early grave, Ghost was sure of it. Or, at least, back into an early grave.

Either way.

Ghost's heart was whipping wildly between relief and fear the entire evening. Listening in on the radio to the chatter, hearing the gunfire and just having to be on the sidelines. But now in some cruel twist of fate, it seemed that he was going to get a front row seat to his Johnny getting tossed from a skyscraper window.

Not if he could help it.

It was dark. There were plenty of shadows for him to sink into on this rooftop.

First thing first.

He readied his gun and held his breath as he watched Hassan bring Soap closer to the edge. He could see Soap trying to get his footing, but he was being held up just out of reach. Hassan kept fucking rocking back and forth, jostling them around, he was struggling to get a clear headshot. That was fine, he didn't need to kill Hassan this way.

Hassan, sadistic bastard that he was, lowered Soap down a bit, making him think he had a chance to get a foot on solid ground, but there was no ground there. Just empty air.

Ghost had enough and fired, the bullet striking Hassan's knee, sending him sprawling backwards. And Johnny was loose. A bit too loose for that matter as he was suddenly falling. Ghost's cold heart momentarily stopped as he saw Soap free fall for a moment. Then he caught himself on the edge. He seemed to be struggling, but Ghost didn't stick around to just watch.

He abandoned his gun on the roof, proper processes be damned. He ran into the nearest shadow and let his body melt into it. He felt himself swimming in the familiar darkness. Normally when he used the shadows he was tempted to stay. It was cool, inviting, and he wouldn't have to worry about anything else ever again. But not this time. This time the devil himself couldn't have convinced Ghost to stay there, not when his Johnny needed him.

He emerged on the other side. In the very room he had just watched Soap and Hassan in. His body reformed and re-solidified and he bolted for the broken window where Soap was still struggling.

He kneeled down and grasped his arms with strong hands and dragged him back up. His heart clenched at the pained cries his sergeant let out. He got him back on the inside and laid out on the floor. He carefully dragged him farther away from the window.

He was alive.

Johnny was alive.

But he was damaged.

He was hurt.

And the man responsible was still in the room.

He would help Soap in a moment. For now, he slowly rose back up to his full height and turned around. Hassan was frantically trying to crawl backwards and away from the beast that had just materialized from the shadows in the corner of the room. He watched Hassan take in a gasping swallow as he saw the skull mask.

"Y-you? You are the Ghost. What-what are you?"

Ghost took a few steps toward him, he felt the shadows drawing near to him. Licking at his heels.

"What am I?" Ghost's eyes flashed crimson as he slowly rolled his mask above his nose. He leaned down, crowding Hassan's space. He flashed razor sharp teeth at him, his black mass of shadows grabbed and tugged at the man's clothes like snakes, "I am more than you."

Ghost didn't have to do much. Hassan's blood wasn't worth his time. He would probably get indigestion from trying to feed on such a low being. A worm. But even this whelp deserved a slow death. He let the shadows painstakingly rip the man apart from the inside. They worked their way into his mouth, his nose, his eyes, and began to burst out through his flesh. Ghost stood back and loomed, satisfied, pleased. He would be worn out later, and would probably need to feed again soon at this overzealous use of his energy, but it was worth it. It was worth it because this man had hurt Johnny. Had mocked him. Tried to kill him.

Ghost had never taken kindly to the damaging of his property.

And Johnny was the most precious thing he had.

Every scream Hassan let out, every wet gargle as he drowned in his own blood, sent satisfaction curling in his gut. Eventually, Ghost began to grow bored with him. His corpse wasn't fun to play with any longer. Or what was left of his corpse at least.

He gave the shadows a little hiss and they reluctantly wriggled back to their proper places and natural positions. His brain was suddenly reminded of his sergeant on the floor when a whine finally pierced through the rush of blood in his ears.

He quickly rejoined Soap at his side, speaking into his comms, "Captain, Hassan is KIA. I'm with Soap, he needs med as soon as possible."

"How are you with Soap?" Price asked back, aghast.

"Had to use a bit of fancy footwork sir." Ghost explained before focusing on assessing Soap's damage.

Ghost could see blood dripping from his head. His mohawk looked sticky and wrong. There were cuts on his clothes and there were bits of bloody glass stuck into his skin. He had his hands cupping a part of his side.

"Move your hands for me, puppy. Let me see." Ghost instructed gently. He carefully took him by the wrists and pulled them off. He had large pieces of glass stuck in his hands from holding onto the edge of the window, but he had a bullet wound to the side. It didn't look too bad, all things considered, but it was a bullet wound to the torso, so it was bleeding quite a lot. And Ghost couldn't be sure how long ago he had gotten it. How much blood he had lost. He could see a couple of other dents and holes in his vest, so he was probably seriously bruised under all of his equipment.

As long as they got everything taken care of soon he would be fine. Werewolf healing and all. He would most likely be right as rain in about a week. But for now he was feeling the pain and discomfort at full force. Ghost was sure his skin was already trying to heal over some of the glass.

He cupped his cheek, noting the shaking that was working its way through his body in violent shivers. He was probably going into shock after everything.

"I'm gonna pick you up and get us out of here, Lovely." He gave him the warning before he began to hoist him up. Soap grunted and yelped as he was lifted, his wounds getting jostled from the motion. But Ghost couldn't think about it. He just wanted them out of this god forsaken building.

At this point, they were closer to the bottom floor, so Ghost booked it to the stairwell and went down the stairs as fast as possible without causing Johnny any more damage. When they finally made it outside, it was chaos. Soldiers, ambulances, police, all milled about in the parking lot. Ghost followed the air for the familiar scent of the plants and cigars, shooting death glares at any medic that approached him asking to get a look at Soap.

He eventually found Price and Gaz seated on the edge of an opened van door. The captain was fussing over some cuts on Gaz, but Gaz looked ready to dart off any second. In fact, he did as soon as he laid eyes on Ghost. He bolted forward, and when Price saw why he was getting up too. Ghost noticed that he got up stiffly, a hand wrapped across his middle. He must have taken some good hits as well.

Ghost permitted Gaz to come over and hover as he approached the van.

"Get him in." Price called as he rounded the side to hop in the driver seat, "Laswell hooked us up with a couple of doctors at the nearest hospital. They'll be able to treat you three."
That's what Ghost had been hoping to hear. A real hospital, with doctors that knew how to handle creatures other than humans.

They piled into the van and quickly departed the chaos of the parking lot. Soap relaxed the tiniest bit from where he had pressed his head closer to Ghost. The loud noise had probably been bothering him.

His eyes blinked open at Ghost. Soap gave a strange and lazy smile, "Did it, LT. I told ya."

"What, Johnny?"

"I found the controls. I told ya I was good at findin' things."

Ghost couldn't help but let out a breathy chuckle, "That you did, Johnny. Very good finding. Good work."

Soap hummed and burrowed closer to Ghost's warmth. He figured he should be concerned by his lack of pain right now, but it didn't feel as important as the feeling of Ghost cradling him against his chest. So he let himself have a reward for a job well done, and took a nap.