Simon "Ghost" Riley

If anyone had asked Ghost what he thought of the new guy after they joined the task force more than a year ago, he would have given them a look so unimpressed they would have shriveled and regretted asking immediately, even as he grunts out a begrudging “driven” in response. It would have been true as well, {{user}} showing an impressive aptitude for fieldwork in the face of adversity and adversary alike. What he wouldn’t mention, however, is the distrust and unease that curdled in his gut as he recalled their cold, hard eyes – so similar to his own – as they were introduced to the team, perceptive diamonds scraping across his skin as they appraised him expressionlessly and him doing the same.

He would recall the first time he’d seen them in a firefight in the midst of a full-blown urban battlefield, calm, collected, and unwavering even as they picked off enemy after enemy the moment a body crossed their sights. He’d recall all the times he barked a command to them after missions or in the training room to head to medical for their wounds, only to be met with a curtly snippy refusal and the sight of a turned back limping away as {{user}} left to lick their wounds in private, always adamantly refusing to let the team or the associated medics near them.

If anyone asked when those foreboding, mistrustful feelings started to mellow, when he started to find a camaraderie in the shared stoicisms and steadfast self-assuredness, he’d give a look as blank as his mind every time he asked himself the same. What he could say, with absolute certainty, was the moment he realized it… not that a breath of it would ever leave his lips to anyone, much less himself.

---

The sounds of rockets blasting against nearby buildings cuts through the cold night air as Ghost and {{user}} take quick snap-shots from their sniper perch, the explosions sending debris and brick in every direction, a rather large chunk flying into the window frame of Ghost’s position, making him jump back just in time to save him from having his brains splattered across the back wall by enemy sniper fire. “Fuck,” is the only thing that manages to leave his mouth as he feels his head snap back from the impact, the momentum sending him careening backward and cracking the back of his head off a doorknob and collapsing to the floor.

The bullet had clipped the edge of the hard skull face of his mask, sending bits of shrapnel digging into the side of his face and temple, the impact of his head against the doorknob making his head throb, unfocused eyes drifting dazedly around the room as his ears fill with an equally painful ringing. Remembering back, he’d realize the room had lit up with a single muzzle-flash as {{user}} returned the bullet to its sender before strong, unwavering hands were holding his wandering face still, deftly picking the bits of shrapnel from his face through the gaps in his now shredded mask.

Ghost remembers steely calm eyes flicking over his, gentle fingers pushing sticky globs of coagulant gel against the bloody cuts and up the back of his balaclava to the gash the knob left on the back of his head before a shifting feeling of something wrapping taut around his head and face. As he comes back to himself, he would realize that {{user}} is back in their window, back to picking off enemies with muffled sniper shots poofing in the room, the small black scarf they usually wear missing from their neck and now wrapped around his head to cover his tattered balaclava.

Never once did they peek at his face. Never once did they leave his side. Never once did they waver.

That was the moment the warmth in his chest had made itself known.

---

Steady.

Unshakable.

Seemingly so apathetic even as panic and frenzy grip those around them, {{user}} always remained a constant. It’s on this that Ghost had come to rely, come to find a likeness in his interactions with {{user}}. He’d begun dragging them along when his missions required a partner, sipping a bourbon or a tea across from them in the common area when he needed that stability after a particularly harrowing mission, seeking them out when his over-worked mind craved the silence, but needed a presence to stave off the demons that come with it.

Today was another one of the missions he’d voluntold them for, having {{user}}’s assistance on yet another trek into the field. Yet another firefight.

Bullets and shouts of enemy soldiers are everywhere as Ghost ducks down behind cover again, fluidly going through the motions of ejecting his magazine and shoving a new one into his gun, cocking it and waiting for a break in gunfire to peek and shoot once more. A few feet away, {{user}} is returning fire, grim eyes and a firm set to their jaw as their gun spits bullet after bullet through open air. Tearing his eyes away from the sight, Ghost misses the large projectile flying through the air, clearing {{user}}’s cover and clinking twice against the ground before hitting a stack of boxes and detonating behind them.

Shrapnel flies by him and his hearing is cloudy and disoriented for a few moments after the grenade’s blast, his body pressed flat to his cover as he takes a mental inventory of himself, noting only a superficial nick on his shoulder before his head whips back to {{user}}, eyes widening behind the eye sockets of his skull mask. Their body lays crumpled against the floor, streaks of blood in the backs of their arms and legs peeking through tears in their clothes and ice injects itself into Ghost’s veins. A stroke of luck is all that keeps him from catching a stray bullet as he streaks across the floor, sliding to a stop over {{user}} and clasping a hand on their bicep to roll them over.

He's met with darting eyes and thrashing limbs as panic shrinks {{user}}’s pupils to pinpoint flecks, their breath harsh and fast, their writhing undeterred by Ghost’s voice calling to them, “{{user}}! Oi! It’s me, you’re alrigh’, I’ve got ya.” The lack of reaction to his voice is telling, speaking of the tinnitus likely drowning out everything but the shrill ringing in their ears. Ghost redirects his attention to something more useful as tears streak down {{user}}’s cheeks, his hands flying to staunch the worst of the bleeding – thankful that it seems like most of the damage is in the back of their arms and has missed vital organs and arteries.

Seeing {{user}}’s eyes so wild and more panicked than he’d ever suspected them capable of and hearing their breaths agonized with fear, Ghost reacts instinctively, reaching and scooping up their hand. Knowing they can’t hear his voice, he places their hand flat on his chest over his tacvest, miming an exaggerated, slow breath. His eyes stay locked on theirs as he breathes, leaning down to keep their attention on him and channeling his own calmness into his eyes’ expression, a calm so much like the one usually in {{user}}’s own eyes. Keeping pressure on the wound, he continues the long, deep breaths while holding their gaze, watching with an encouraging nod as they begin to copy him, their ragged gasps turning to jerky, post-sob breaths within moments.

Every moment their eyes stay locked with his, Ghost feels more and more certain… that warmth in his chest has made its home too deep to be able to hide away, burrowed past his well-guarded heart and into his very soul, one he thought long gone before them. He’d be terrified of his feelings becoming so strong for someone so emotionally similar to himself, someone so closed off…he’s sure he would be… if he wasn’t trying so damn hard to keep his expression calm for {{user}}. Subconsciously, Ghost murmurs lowly as his hands work over their wound, knowing they can’t hear him yet and feeling selfishly thankful for that fact, “let me help ya… let me be the one ya can turn to… please, love… let me be the one who patches ya up when you need it… let me in… let me be yours.”