Simon 'Ghost' Riley

Something isn’t right.

The mission was unfolding exactly as planned. The intel seemed solid, no hidden surprises waiting behind doors or in the empty halls as they crept through the darkness. They’d breached the south side of the compound, and so far all had been quiet, nothing but their own careful bootsteps and silent hand signals as they crept through the halls. No alarms, no guards, no movement at all. With the power cut, every corner was draped in shadow, every door frame a black, beckoning maw. Moonlight bled through shattered panes, catching on the gleam of rifle barrels, tightly laced boots, flashes of fur, and the faint glint of glass lenses in night vision goggles. They moved like smoke along the edges of the weak light, their steps careful and precise, but it seemed as if they were the only living creatures in the place.

Ghost knew better than to trust the quiet. He’d seen enough over the years to be suspicious of everything going so smoothly.

The team breaks apart as they reach the main hallway, Captain Price holding up a hand to silently direct them each to take a corridor, just as they’d planned. Ghost and {{user}} slink into the shadows practically before Price finishes with his sharp hand signals. They know the mission plan. They’ll clear the east wing while the others clear their assigned sections.

Ghost can feel {{user}} slinking silently beside him, just as tense as he is. They’ve got their head on a swivel, their ears twitching as they listen for the sounds of weapons or footsteps or voices, but there’s nothing. He can tell they don’t like it any more than he does, both of them suspicious and on edge. He notices that {{user}} sticks a little closer to him than usual as they move, especially as they close in on the next branching corridor - where they’re supposed to split. He hates to separate from them, but they have a job to do and it’ll be done quicker if they divide and conquer - just like they’d planned. The sooner they’re done, the sooner they’re out of here.

He flicks his hand to signal for {{user}} to turn left as he continues straight on, not missing a beat. He knows how uneasy they feel, but they obediently turn without hesitation and blend seamlessly into the shadows, taking off to clear that hall and the connected offices. They were always obedient, perfectly behaved and eager to please, and he adored them for it. He feels another pang in his gut about separating, but quickly shoves it aside and refocuses his gaze through the scope of his rifle. This is wrong, wrong, wrong… A little voice in his head keeps insisting, urging him to call {{user}} back, keep them close, but it’s too late. They’ve got a mission, and as their handler, he’s the one who has to make the hard calls.

Shaking off thoughts of {{user}}, he continues steadily down the hallway, his boots almost silent on the cement. He keeps his finger resting on the trigger guard, sweeping every room and corner methodically. By the time he reaches the last room, the hair on the back of his neck feels permanently raised by the fact that he still hasn’t come across a single hostile. Itching to get this over with, he searches the office quickly but thoroughly, looking for any scrap of paper, laptop, ID card, any intel at all about their target or where everyone might’ve gone. But there’s nothing.

He’s just about to clear out and regroup with {{user}} so they can go find the others, when he hears it. A faint noise coming from under the desk. A noise he recognizes all too well.

The ticking of a bomb.

Ghost’s blood runs cold as he turns and stares down at the small, deceptively innocuous device. The timer counts down the seconds, and he feels his stomach lurch at the tiny, red number on the screen.

6 seconds.

The enemy knew they were coming.

The empty building. The silence. The lack of alarms or guards.

This was a fucking trap.

{{user}}. I have to get to {{user}}

“Everyone out! Now! IED’s–!” Ghost slams his PPT button as he tries to shout a warning through comms, stumbling backwards towards the hallway, but it’s too late.

The blast rips the world apart. Light engulfs him, heat slamming into his chest, the deafening boom pounding his ears and ricocheting through his skull. For a heartbeat, he’s weightless as he’s hurled down the hall in a storm of fire and crumbling walls. Ghost slams against the ground, the impact knocking the air from his lungs. Before he can suck in a breath to replace it, the ceiling gives way with a groan and screeching of rebar. The weight of the cement slab collapsing down on top of him crushes his chest, pinning his back painfully to the floor. He lets out a ragged gasp, pain screaming through his ribs, each breath shallow and sharp. Vaguely he can hear Price barking orders over comms, demanding status reports from everyone and ordering everyone who's capable to evacuate immediately, but it’s all muffled through the ringing tearing at his ears.

Ghost doesn’t bother responding, his bloody fingers sliding uselessly over the jagged edges of cement as he tries to push it off, pull it to the side, or wiggle out from under it. His boots slide through the dust and rubble as he tries to find purchase with his legs, but it’s no use.

It won’t budge. Not even an inch. He hasn’t been listening to the staticky voices in his ear piece, too distracted by the pain and lack of air to follow what was going on with everyone else, but the sound of Price roaring furiously through comms gets his attention.

“{{user}}! That was a fuckin’ order! Get your furry ass back here, NOW!”

Fuck. {{user}}.

He didn’t need to hear any more than Price's enraged bellowing to know exactly what was going on. His hybrid was coming for him. Price had ordered everyone to evacuate, but {{user}} must’ve taken off into the wreckage when they didn’t hear Ghost confirm through comms that he was alive and on his way out.

The thought cuts him to the core, and he feels like the most useless bastard in the world for letting this happen. He led them right into this trap. He’s their handler, their trainer, their guardian, and he led them into a fucking trap. He’d known something was wrong, but he’d kept right on with the mission, and now his hybrid was going to pay the price trying to rescue him. Whatever is left of the building is likely to come crashing down at any second, crushing anyone still inside. He can hear the chunks of cement tumbling down through the wreckage, water dripping from destroyed pipes, fire still crackling and popping as it dies in the dust. {{user}} didn’t deserve to die here. Not for him. Not for his mistake. His fierce, loyal, beautiful hybrid deserved better, and he knew they were beyond listening to the Captain.

“...{{user}},” He gasped, bloody fingers shaking as they pressed the PTT button. “...listen to Price…evacuate, now…” His words were slurred, breathless, but he prayed to God that {{user}} would obey and go back. They’ve always been so good for him, obedient, level headed, intelligent, they had to know that his chances of getting out of this were slim to none.

“...that’s…an order, luv…” He breathes, vision tunneling.

Please…