Home - COD Simon Ghost Riley X Female OC

Chapter 13

MJ slept more soundly after she heard Simon's boots leave the hall outside her door. She had hung in limbo for a moment between hoping he would walk back in and being terrified that he might. She didn't have a legitimate reason to want that, and certainly not now. But she held onto to the secrets he had offered her, even though she had already known he was the same with or without the mask. He had stooped to her level to make her feel better. She could accept that but she wouldn't ask for more.

She hadn't meant to alert him to the fact that she didn't know how to keep moving. He didn't need to walk around worrying if they might have some bloody mess to clean up inside the safety of their base.

She stayed in bed past breakfast but managed to shower before lunch, pulling her hair back into a ponytail like it might pull her life back together. She sat with Rossi but didn't speak much and the blond didn't push. MJ didn't know if she knew anything or not. She found that it didn't really matter whether she did or not. Nothing that any of them knew or didn't know about her mattered. She didn't belong there, she wasn't one of them.

She stood and walked to the kitchen, and while she stood at the sink, she heard someone approach her from behind.

She turned around, not sure who she was expecting, and found John behind her. He moved passed her to lay down his things.

"Beautiful day, huh?" He asked, his back to her.

It was sunny, warmer than it had been. She glanced out the window. "I suppose so."

"Feel like going out in it?" He looked over his shoulder, smiling, and she matched it.

"Why do you ask?"

"Got a bit of busywork for you, if you're interested." He turned back to her, crossing his arms.

A chance to keep her hands busy? Pass some time? "Absolutely. Just say when."

"I'll be out there."

She went back to her room and changed her shoes. She found the blue eyed man outside, waiting for her. He nodded and she followed him.

They stood at the bed of a truck. "We're going to count all of these," he pointed to a bucket of ammunition, "And put them in those." He pointed to a stack of ammo boxes.

"Okay." She nodded. She took the paper and pen he handed to her.

She looked so serious that he almost laughed at her. "It doesn't have to be perfect. It's just inventory."

She started, he stood across from her, working from the other side. They counted in silence for some time, until her hands were dirty and her paper was getting full.

"How are you doing?" He asked out of the blue, his accent rolling the words out carefully.

She didn't catch on. She looked at the bucket she was working out of. "75%, maybe."

John chuckled. "I don't mean the bullets."

"Oh." She never looked up. "I'm okay." She offered him a smile. "Better now that I have something to do."

He met her eyes across the bed of the truck. "I know what Price told you must have been hard to hear."

She held his gaze while her hands kept working, wondering how much she should say. "It was. I'm not sure how I should react, really."

He nodded. "Fair."

"You're stuck out here because of me, aren't you?"

He softened. "Not really, no. We weren't supposed to be done just yet. Besides, it's because of them, not you."