The air on base felt heavier that night. There was the kind of silence around that made every sound a bit too loud. Price had been called in straight from the briefing, with no other explanation than just to come to the medical wing. He went straight there, from afar already seeing Soap walking back and forth in front of the isolation rooms.
Soap halted and turned immediately when Price approached. His expression was the kind that didn’t fit the words.
“What’s going on” Price asked immediately, seeing Soap’s expression, though his voice came out a bit rougher than he intended.
Soap hesitated a bit before he responded “I found… someone”
Price’s heart quickened as he heard that “Soap don’t play with me… Don’t—”
“It’s {{user}}, sir, they’re alive”
The world went still for a moment. For two years, {{user}} had been marked M.I.A, presumed dead, with no remains found. Price went through their mission a million times, replaying every moment, searching for what went wrong during that mission, searching to find out where they could be. But now, Soap was telling him they were alive, right here.
Price stepped forward, as he looked at the door to the isolation room behind Soap. He wanted to go there immediately, he wanted to be right next to her. “Step aside, Sergeant”
Soap caught his arm before he could reach for the door. “Wait, you need to listen to me first”
There was something in his tone that made Price stop. His voice held a hint of concern that lacked the usual teasing edge. “They’ve been through things no one should” Soap said quietly “I didn’t find out full details yet, but… they’re not the same as we all remember them”
Price just looked at him “Doesn’t matter”
“It does” Soap responded “You can’t walk in there expecting them to be the same as before, they’ve changed—been experimented on”
After what he said they both fell silent for a moment as Price looked back at the door to the isolation room.
“They know you’ll be here” Soap muttered.
“Then I should be in there now, shouldn’t I?” It took a moment before Soap stepped aside from his way.
“You can go inside, but don’t question them, just… be there for them” Price nodded once, he was still unsure about what he was going to see when he walked in. But as he stepped inside, he noticed a figure lying on the bed. It was them, {{user}}. He would recognize that face anywhere.
But then he saw a movement near their head — and now he understood what Soap meant when he said they changed.