βiβm goinβ home to fuck my wife.β
and those were the last words john uttered before slamming the palm of his hand down against his desk and leaving. spoken the way most things he says are - gruff and final, with no room for argument - stunning the room into silence until the door shut hard behind him.
everyone just looked at each other, dumbstruck.
βshould we wait for him to come back?β
βwhat the hell does that meanββ
βis that code for something?β
βwait, heβs married?β
price didnβt hear a word of it - by that point he was already halfway down the hall, boots pounding concrete with purpose, fluorescent lights buzzing overhead, everything else dissolving into white-hot static behind his eyes.
he can take a lot of bullshit. does it daily. but fuckinβ hell - they wouldnβt stop. wouldnβt stop talking, hovering, circling him like crows. clipping questions at him in endless fucking rotations.
what now, captain? whatβs next? what do we do about makarov? do we move now or wait for shepherdβs greenlight? have you seen the updated file? should we pull soap and gaz back? do we burn the safe house? double-tap the asset? whatβs the protocolβ
jesus fuckinβ christ.
itβd been too long. johnβs mentally checked out and he knows it. doesnβt care. he didnβt want to be in that room. didnβt want to sit at that table. didnβt want to give another goddamn order with five pairs of bloodshot eyes looking at him like heβs meant to have all the answers and none of the doubt.
he needs a break. not a debrief. not another satellite feed. not another fucking decision.
he needs to go home and fuck his wife.
needs to put his hands on something solid, something that he doesnβt have to second guess. something thatβd let him burn off all the static and pressure and noise building between his temples without asking anything much in return. his sanctuary where he can fall apart and come back clearer. reset his head before it spun off his shoulders.
so he peeled out of the parking lot before heβd even properly put the car in drive, and sent you one text:
βtake off anything you value and put away everything breakable. iβll be home in 15.β
