Chapter Text
There’s a secret that you promised to take to the grave. He made you promise, a pinky promise in fact. When you laughed at the out-stretched pinky he offered you, his eyes gave you a very unamused look. As if he weren’t the 6 '2”, at minimum 200 pound guy, fully suited with tactical gear ready at any moment to go into an ops blind. You indulged him, only because so little actually had made you laugh like that in the past month or so. Life, out here at least, was more about survival.
You and Ghost are sitting on your cot, cross-legged facing each other. The team had just come back from a successful stealth mission. You guys were in and out as needed and quicker than expected and the cherry on top, no casualties or wounded. It was cause for celebration since morale has been low. There was almost no one at the base that the team entered. You'd think maybe Laswell did that on purpose. The operation has been a maze, with twists and turns that extend past the normal two dimension ones. If there was progress on the ground, there would be problems with another cell unit hundreds of kilometers away. It’s hard not to question why this team of not even 10 men was given this mission to carry out. You had to prevent yourself from going down dark roads in your mind that were already filled with alleyways that made gunshots echo.
The computer that was wanted has already been handed over to the cyber intelligence field officer. Soap had called him the NOS (nerd on sight) and received a disappointed head shake from Price. As this NOS had been quite burly and almost more so than Soap himself.
But despite that, the previous ops have left a bad taste in your mouth. Bitter aftertaste that left you wondering if anyone else was noticing the same pattern.
Everyone was celebrating in the canteen so why weren't you and Ghost in there, laughing and drinking it up with everyone else? Good question. Fate had similar plans for the both of you, Ghost not being much of a celebrating guy in any situation and you who had found yourself losing control of your body quickly after a couple of beers. It was embarrassing to say the least, you must have been more tired than you thought to have the alcohol take effect so strongly and quickly. Seeing Ghost get up to leave was almost a message to you. A message to get out quickly before your teammates notice what you’ve noticed and starts prying secrets from you or implanting ideas into your head. They love to take advantage, luckily the worst they could think about was making you crave pineapple juice for almost a week. You will fight long and hard to not put yourself in that position again. They didn't need more ammo to tease you with. Ghost was the perfect cover and no one was going to argue with the lieutenant leaving early.
“You drunk, lieutenant?”
“No," you reply,
“just ready for an early night.”
He blinks and looks away only half believing you.
So you two walked to the cots together, with no chatter, just a cool night overhead of you. You might have been acting a little more inebriated than you actually were, overexaggerating your stumbling about. Anyone else in your situation would do so if it meant they could rest their tired head and grip onto the beefy biceps of 141 Task Force Simon "Ghost" Riley. He didn't protest as you leaned against the whole walk over nor did he struggle too much when you invited him over to your bunk for some 'girl talk'.
You were both fortunate and unfortunate to be the only girl on the team so maybe he thought he was doing you a favor, or maybe he was actually more drunk than you and you were actually the one taking advantage of him or maybe he–
"You promise you won't tell?" His rough British accent only got more rough for your ear to interpret. It tickles the hairs on the back of your neck and makes you feel almost reserved. His eyes bore into you. And it's almost like someone else was behind the mask.
The thought comes to you that maybe your previous thought was right. The man in front of you wasn't the normal Ghost, this man was definitely a little tipsy (tipsy is putting it lightly). Ghost must have been drunk so many times with the team before but with the mask, no one is able to tell. He must have been drunk before but everyone was worse. He definitely got off lucky with a team of absolute shitheads who drink until they physiologically can't.
Lieutenant Simon Riley has his hands fidgeting with the bottom of his balaclava for a second before steading himself. A hardened man who has been through war and who has actively prevented war is sitting across from you, sitting criss-cross applesauce about to show you some big secret like you're two 14-year-old girls about to tell each other your crushes at a sleepover. You can't believe what you managed to talk out of him.
It almost feels like an alternate universe or maybe it's a dream. Maybe you are still at the bar with your head on the sticky table, fast asleep, as Gaz and Soap and Captain drinking around you. You pinch yourself slightly to make sure.
"Of course, just show me already." You can't help but roll your eyes. If anyone comes in right now, the two wouldn't hear the end of it.
It could be worse, you thought, but you aren't going to take advantage of this clearly inebriated man.
Ghost makes no move to remove the offending piece of fabric off his face. The cicadas sing and a little bit of a breeze gets under the tent. The ambiance is perfect, movie perfect. Wishing you had a camera to capture this moment in time, but all you have right now is a tired mind working on beer and peanuts. Your tipsy memory will have to do.
You two just breathe in each other's space. You stare into his eyes, wondering if he fell asleep. You blink a few times, exaggeratedly before groaning loudly.
"Come one, I hold all of Soap's secrets. You don't even know the things he says about you."
"What does he say about–"
"Don't worry about it."
He thinks your smile is cheeky, all too proud. A smile that should be on your face more often in situations like this, where it's just the two of you. You're all too proud for someone who gossips with a grown man. He knows he can trust you, you work amazing on the field. You guys have watched each other's backs for months now. One more intensely than the other.
Your eyes zone in on the skin that is starting to show as he lifts his mask slowly. The skin on his neck looks soft and pale. It's in need of some color and you know a perfect way to add some. His hands continue to move delicately, both of his hands getting under the mask as he lifts it slowly. His chin shows first, then his lips. When he licks them, you mimic him and he tries not to let it phase him. Your eyes memorize as much of his face as you can, while his eyes focus on your face. The subtle micro expressions and the way your breathing slowed down.
He opens his mouth and lets his tongue flop out and there it is. A single metallic ball at the center of his tongue. You swallow and blink to make sure you see it right before a round of giggles leave your mouth. Giggles lead to almost rambunctious laughs as you thrash around, bouncing a little in your cot.
Oh goodness it's real and you couldn't even tell Soap or anyone for that matter. Did he always have that in? He lets your fingers touch his neck and travel up to his mouth. Your hands move closer to the single metallic ball in the center of his tongue. Ohh if only you could tell everyone, you fight the desire to get up and run back into the canteen and expose the team's beloved lieutenant for the deviant he is. But you made a promise and you intend on keeping it.
"I'm going to tell"
As fast as you could, you shot up and tried to run to the door, Ghost grabbed you by the ankle and instantly dragged you back down. You look at him with a spark in your eyes. He must have not thought you were going to try again because when you almost made it to the huts’ entrance. Keyword, almost. There’s a reason Ghost outranks you. You all had your niches but what Ghost lacked in misdirection, he made up for it in direct and brutal takedowns. The lieutenant essentially body slams you into the floor with zero remorse, as if you were the enemy he was sent out to take down and eliminate.
The air is instantly knocked out of your chest and you scramble to get free. Mostly, being a woman in the army you had to come to terms with the fact that there’ll be some men you will never be stronger than. Luckily, you learned to be smarter and slicker, to get in and out of situations unnoticed that the other 6'0'’ 200 pound men around you wouldn't be able to.
You quickly extend your legs and flip over. The Lieutenant is flat on his back and you on top, he looks up at you. Eyes glare at you through the mask but this time it isn't like the time you've been caught joking during training. This glare isn't of annoyance, it's something newer you haven't seen. Your legs stable his waist and you find yourself drunkenly leaning in.
You breathe out your mouth and that reminds him of the reason you two are here and alone. You had drank too much and too fast on an empty stomach, and he wasn't much for watching his coworkers get plastered. He can still smell the last beer you drank and it makes him think maybe he's humored you enough.
He has years of experience. So he bucked his hips catching you off guard. Your eyes widen in shock and you fall forward, just for Ghost to grab you by the wrists and press you against the floor.
There's a silence where you're breathing heavily and he watches before speaking.
"Guess it's about time to sleep."
He gently gets off and you scrabble upwards onto your feet.
"I promise I won't tell anyone Lt." You salute him jokingly, your hand almost a 180° parallel to your nose, nowhere near the right proper salute you were taught.
"Sleep well", he says before strolling off to his corner of the room. Far away from your cot and find yourself wondering who this man you've worked with for almost 2 years really is. Simon "Ghost" Riley, lieutenant of Task Force 141 is cold and distant, wears a skull mask that lives in the nightmares of Shadows across the globe, and is warm to the touch.
You start to miss the feeling of his knees against yours and the warmth of his body that was inches away from you. As you reach out to touch the area he was sitting, the cicadas get louder and Ghost starts snoring softly.
You follow his lead, as any soldier does with their high ups' orders and lay down. Wrapping yourself with your thin blanket and thinking about his hands on your hips and how close his lips were.