#destiny x cod

Made in procreate

Drabble Title: Well, Shit.

Warnings? Um... warzone? Fighting? Gunfire? Game typical stuff.

Ghost POV. Featuring one of my many hunter OC's in typical hunter fashion. :P Unedited because of course it isn't.

Inspired by @emmster 's destiny x cod comic and art. The story includes my cod OC Paloma Vascoe, you can read more about her in Navigation. I have plans for a continuation so I hope y'all enjoy.

"HOLY SHIT!!"

Johnny hasn't been in the vanguard for more than a few minutes when he hears a shout and has armoured arms wrapped around him.

"STEAMIN JESUS!" He yells. Before he can ask his ghost what the hell is happening, he's turned around by his attacker hugger, and sees a shorter guardian, with their hood still up, wide-eyed and smiling.

"You're here! They woke you up!" The female guardian says excitedly. Johnny smiles.

"Yeah, they did." He says matching her excitement, before dropping it quickly. "...who the 'ell are you?"

The guardian gets a look of realization on her face, slight disappointment mixed in. "Oh... right. Forgot about that."

"Care to explain instead of leavin mae in the dark?" Johnny asks. The female guardian's ghost comes up next to her, looking different than his own. Johnny's own ghost speaks up.

"Some guardians we've learned have been finding memories of their past on their person, like photos and journals. I believe Marco may know you from the past." The ghost explains.

"Spot on actually. She was looking at a photo of you before running up." The other ghost confirms.

"So ya know my real name?" Johnny asks crossing his arms. Why couldn't his past self have a journal or some photos? The guardian, he guessed was Marco, nods. Odd name for a girl, but hey who could he judge.

"Johnny "Soap" MacTavish I believe. I only have a photo with some names and a half filled journal. Still, just finding a small piece is amazing." Marco says, excitement still in her eyes. Man how old was she? Then again, he had only been revived recently so age was probably irrelevant. He wouldn't read too much into that.

"The ell kind of name is Soap?" His ghost asks. Rude.

"Just fer dat, I'm callin ya Soap now." Johnny says. Marco snickers.

"I'll let you head inside the tower, I need to return to my fire team. Oh! When you're done, come find us. They'll want to see you." With a final quick hug, the guardian runs off again excitedly, doing a couple of hops and skips along the way. She was... a character.

Johnny heads into the vanguard tower.

.................

Johnny leaves his small room, stretching and yawning. He needed a nap after the crazy first day. Man was this what it was like to be born? Waking up with no knowledge, and then being thrown into a whole world you're unfamiliar with. Yep, that sounds about right. Not sure if a gunfight, a small companion and fighting some weird aliens was something babies did though. That and having weird magic abilities.

Before he found a room, he ran into Marco again, who understood his desire for rest. Again she insisted on him meeting with her and her fire team afterwards. Johnny asked Soap if there was a way to find Marco, and thankfully he did. The last thing Johnny wanted was to wander around with only his ghost to guide him. Human interaction was a strong desire, well, humanoid. Turns out Marco had left Soap a checkpoint to meet at.

Johnny glances at the other guardians, civilians, and droids roaming around the city. This was all very strange. Something in the back of his mind told him everything wasn't the way it was, but he couldn't recall what it was supposed to be like. Thankfully he spots Marco looking around for him. When she notices him she waves with a friendly smile. Johnny looks at his ghost who just looks back, with no real expectation of a response. He comes over.

Marco smiles and gives him a pat on his back as she leads him through the streets. "How was your nap?"

"Fine. Bloody starvin'." Johnny says.

"My team is getting food right now, so its on us. Hope you like asada."

"Hope so too." Johnny comments. She chuckles, taking him to a small restaurant where there are plenty of guardians sitting at tables and the bar. Johnny felt a little more comfortable, finding the location familiar in a way.

"Come on." Marco says, nudging him forward to follow her. She led him to the bar where he spots two male guardians, with one giving a large grin while the other guardian seemed to be lecturing him.

“Guess who found something rarer than any engram!” Marco says excitedly sitting down with the two guys. They both look at her then over her shoulder to see Johnny. The Titan stands and smiles wide at Johnny.

“Soap? No puedo creerlo. Good to see you.” He says, clasping Johnny on the shoulder. “Alejandro Vargas. This is my second in command Rudolfo Parra.”

The warlock raises a hand in a wave. The two seemed more seasoned than him and Marco.

“Call me Johnny.” Johnny says trying to be friendly.

“Sit, sit.” Alejandro offers. Thank god he was starving. Food was served and they all get to talking. As Johnny starts to finally get his head wrapped around everything, its like a messy ball of yarn. The three guardians talk to him like an old friend, asking him questions about what's been happening so far. Not much to say since he's only been awake for a few days. Still, they listen and give him a chance to explain everything. Any questions he has, Marco pulls out a journal and pen, directing him through creatures, hierarchies, and planets. Johnny finds himself adding to it, as he mentions what he's found in the last few days. Alejandro and Rudolfo provide any corrections. Johnny also gets some food and drink. The colour of his drink makes him uneasy, but Marco offers to try it herself. They end up doing the link arm thing as they sip. Not sure what's in it, but it puts out the heat of the spicy food they get. Johnny has to admit, he feels more comfortable asking these questions with Marco and her team than he thought. He'd never admit it but Ikora was kind of intimidating. Reminded him of someone but couldn't recall.

"So what bout this photo?" He finally asks, after learning about the Iron Age, which was when Alejandro and Rudy were revived. Apparently, Marco woke up much later and found Alejandro and Rudolfo some time after being awake. Details she would tell him more about later.

Marco takes out another journal, this one much older, with aged and cracked leather bindings, and yellowed pages. She flips through until she finds the photo, and takes it out to show him. The two lean in and Johnny finds a photo of himself, Alejandro, Rudolfo, Marco, a man in a skull mask, a guy with darker skin and a cap, and a bearded man with a boonie hat. The photo tells him his story or at least the tip of it. He was alive a very very long time ago. He was a bit more clean-shaven. And he was in the military, seeing military vests and weapons on him. Rudolfo and Alejandro looked younger as did Marco but not by much. Johnny turns the photo over and sees names scribbled on the back, matching up to the people in the photo. There he sees the name Marco gave him. Holding the photo and reading the names it's like recalling characters of a game he's only heard about. Who was he? What did he do? How did he die? Did he die because he was in the military? Did he hurt people? Were the other men revived?

A hand is on his shoulder and another is on the photo. Johnny hadn't noticed his breathing going unsteady, his leg bouncing or his heart racing until Marco settled it.

"Guardian? You okay?" Soap asks. Johnny just nods. Marco carefully tugs the photo out from under Johnny's hand. A glass of water is set down in front of him by a robotic bartender. Johnny waves, gesturing appreciation. Marco keeps her hand on his back making small circles to comfort him. The photo could be overwhelming. It had been for Alejandro and Rudolfo. After a few sips Johnny settles, taking the photo slowly.

"...Yer name is Marco?" He asks, looking at Marco. Not the first question she expected. Marco nods though, a little confused.

"The photo says you have a different name." He points out.

"Aquí vamos." Rudolfo says, taking a long sip of his drink. Alejandro pats Rudy on the shoulder, smiling.

"Shut up." Marco says with a smile before turning back to Johnny. "I think my name is Marco. And there's a few theories I have."

Alejandro and Rudolfo order more food, and chime in as Marco explains her theories about her past life. The first one isn't farfetched. Marco explains she still had dog tags when she was revived, holding them out where the name Marco is engraved. In the photo her name is listed as Paloma "Sunny" Vascoe. The last names are the same so she thinks maybe she was trans or identified as a boy but never had her dog tags changed or the wrong name was written on the photo but not on her tags. Right now though she goes by she/her.

"Could see it." Johnny says considering the idea. Alejandro thinks it's untrue, but isn't about to get into a long discussion about gender and whether it would transfer to reincarnation or revival.

"The second theory is loco." Rudy comments.

"Whats the second?" Johnny asks.

"I have a twin." Marco says.

"It's never twins!" Rudolfo argues. "If you were a twin, then there should be another one of the you walking around by now."

"You don't know that!" Marco retorts.

"So you think you have a twin?" Johnny asks, his tone very clearly siding with Rudolfo. "How would that work if you're female, the photo shows you as a female, and the name you're wearing is masculine?"

Marco gives him a look, trying to think of a counter argument. All she comes up with is, "things happen on the battle field, maybe we switched dog tags for luck."

"Nice try Mija." Alejnadro says patting her on the shoulder.

"So more than likely your real name, is the one on the photo?" Johnny asks.

"I'm just used to Marco now, it's what I was calling myself when I woke up, it's what I've been going by for a while. Sunny says the same, that my real name is likely Paloma." Marco/Paloma admits, gesturing to her Ghost.

"Johnny...sounds weird calling you that." Alejandro says.

"Maybe we just call you Soap instead." Marco comments.

"You need help around, just come find us. We'll be around and will help you with raids and missions if we can." Alejandro offers. Johnny was glad to hear it.

"Help mae with another drink?" Johnny asks.

The rest of the night and into the morning a little the four stay up talking and drinking. There was so much yet to come for them, more than any of them were going to be prepared for.

.......................

Johnny with his ghost Soap and Paloma with her ghost Sunny hide away, taking shelter. They were separated, sore, and weak. Their Ghosts are barely able to stay floating, unable to revive them, and the traveller's light cut off... they both think about that night when they all met and many others. All they can do is hope and pray. Hope and pray their friends were still alive. Hope and pray they haven't lost their light.

Yep this is the next part now, I don’t make the rules!

Selfie Memory

“Look im telling you, same guy.” Paloma said to Rudolfo who keeps looking between the photo and the new guardian that had walked in.

“People wear masks Mija.” Rudolfo said, shrugging with disbelief. Paloma let out a dramatic groan of frustration.

Johnny and Alejandro walked into the spicy ramen shop coming up behind Rudolfo and Paloma.

“Was this about?” Johnny asked, having witnessed Paloma’s dramatic performance. Paloma straightened and tugged Johnny forward, holding up the photo.

“Same guy!” She said and pointed to the dark brooding hunter on the other side of the shop. He was sitting there in dark armour with his side facing them. Johnny looked at the photo, and then at the figure.

“Mija he has a mask.” Alejandro argued, Rudolfo agreeing with him.

“Maybe not.” Johnny said, taking the photo from Paloma, and waiting for the hunter to turn his head. Johnny eyes flick from the photo to the hunter, back and forth. “Talk to em?”

“No, Rudolfo won’t back me up.” Paloma said, looking at Rudy.

“You’re a grown woman.” Rudy pointed out.

“He’s wearing a skull mask, it’s intimidating.” Paloma admitted.

Johnny was lost in thought. “He looks…oddly familiar.” He muttered. “Excuse me.”

The other three looked up from their conversation watching Johnny as he walked up to the stranger. Soap stayed close to him, a little nervous himself.

“Pardon me.” Johnny said, giving a smile, as he stood in front of the strangers table. The masked hunter stopped eating, looking up at him. Johnny looked at the photo again. “Have we met?”

“I just woke up.” The hunter said, his voice like gravel, with a British accent. Johnny probably should’ve thought this through first, realizing it was possible the guardian was brand new. “You trying to start something?”

“Others tried that?” Johnny asked. Rude awakening.

“Some cabal. Big ugly bastards.” The hunter said.

“Yeah no shit.” Johnny said. “Listen… this is gonna sound crazy but I think you and I might know each other.”

“I owe you money? Doubt it counts for anything given I’ve been dead.” The way he said it sounded rather threatening. A warning to not fuck with him, and Johnny knew how it might have sounded. Johnny pulled out the chair across from him, and set the photo down on the table, showing him.

“…the ell is this?” The hunter asked looking at the photo of Johnny and his friends. The way he looked at it though, there was consideration in the way he pulled it closer. Johnny could relate knowing how he felt seeing the photo for the first time.

“I believe… my friend believes we all knew each other in the past.” Johnny exclaimed.

“Military?”

“Special forces.”

“Explains a lot.”

“Like what?”

“Muscle memory. As soon as I woke up, I reached for a weapon that wasn’t there.” The hunter said.

“Johnny MacTavish.” Johnny said holding his hand out to shake.

“Don’t have a name.” The hunter said. Johnny took the photo and flipped it over, showing the stranger his name.

“So I could be Alejandro, Paloma or Rudolfo?”

“They’re over there.” Johnny jerked his head towards his friends. When the hunter looked over he noticed the three people from the photo, who seemed to look away. The girl waved. “I think you’re… Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley.”

“Guess I am a ghost.” Simon said, his own ghost looking at him.

“Can I call you Simon?” Johnny asked.

“Can I call you Johnny?” He asked back.

“With Johnny’s help?”

“I can’t call Soap Johnny.”

“Don’t. Only Ghost can pull that off.”

“You alright?” Simon asked. Johnny didn’t notice he’d been spacing out for a moment there.

“Yeah. Fine. You uh…” he looked over at the group. “Couldn’t hurt to meet the rest of ‘em.”

Simon looked over seeing the three were now just talking, instead of looking busy. He’d been advised to find a team he could work with for raids and missions. Johnny was right, it couldn’t hurt. “Who’s buying?”

“Come on.” Johnny gestured, getting up from the table. “Fair warning, Paloma might talk your ear off.”