Simon "Ghost" Riley x Reader

Seventeen

"Target up the hill, two clicks out.", Price's voice filled your ears and mixed with the deafening noise of the car engine.

You glanced to the side.

Ghost sat in silence, eyes fixed on the road ahead, while his hands lay on his weapon as if he expected things to go down any moment.

He didn't seem to allow himself a moment to relax. Not even when he was around his own unit, friends even.

Price and Alejandro sat in the front, Rudi and Soap had been pushed to the backseat.

You turned your gaze back to the road but let out a sound to attract the man's attention.

"Are you listening?", you asked in a calm manner, not loud enough for others to head but also not too quite to make it seem like you planned something.

"Hm.", Ghost hummed, not a single movement could be seen in his body. "Affirmative."

You took a deep breath.

"Good. Listen closely and tell me what your opinion is on the matter."

"You sound nervous, Lieutenant."

A soft huff made you grin.

"Me?", you glanced at him from the corner of your eyes. "Never. But you'll get enough chances to see that."

His eyes moved to lock gazes with you for a moment before they turned away in a lazy, annoyed manner again.

"Speak your mind.", he just said.

You hummed and followed his example to look at the road again.

"It seems we will have to tango a lot more on our own now that we have multiple locations to sweep. And all of them need undercover work."

"Multiple locations could mean he lied."

You shrugged.

"So? If he lied or not, we'll have to check every single one. That means we build teams."

"You're with Johnny."

One of your eyebrows rose as your brothers nickname left the masked man's mouth.

A faint smile broadened on your lips.

"You can't be serious.", you chuckled.

Ghost looked at you again, frowning, if the expression in his eyes was identified correctly.

"I don't joke.", he simply said.

You snorted.

"I can tell."

"But even if you would, MacTavish and MacTavish is out of the question.", Price said from the drivers seat. "Too risky."

"Too much sibling love.", you added with a slightly bigger grin. "So it's us."

"I'll team up with Johnny then.", Ghost said.

Price shook his head.

"He's with me.", the Brit said and lit himself a cigar. "Johnny needs to be kept on a short leash for this. You're with 100. Two lieutenants will know how to act without orders every two minutes."

Agreeing, you hummed and looked down to check your weapon that waited between your legs.

"We're one click out, captain, slow the car down.", you glanced at Ghost. "We'll jump."

Not trying to argue with the captains decision, Ghost just took a deep breath and let his head roll back.

It was an obvious sign that he didn't agree with this plan nor was he thrilled to execute it, yet he would go with it since he was somebody to follow the rules.

This was the first real emotion you were able to catch from him.

Annoyance.

Somehow, it caught you off guard.

He was such a calm man, yet he seemed to be no team player at all. He just forced himself go roll with it since this was the way it was done.

But if it were for him he would have preferred to do it without someone he already got used to.

Someone like your brother.

With your lips pressed into a thin line, you turned away from him to avoid eye contact.

Why did it bother you that Ghost was so much closer to your brother and obviously favoured him?

This wasn't the first time you had to work with somebody you didn't know at all. Back with others it hadn't bothered you in the slightest if someone wasn't all that fond of you.

And yet gig wanted him to at least be neutral towards your existence.

Quickly, you shook this thoughts off again.

Those weren't thoughts a good soldier was supposed to have.

"Alright.", your hand slid onto the handle of the door. "Ready for takeoff?"

Ghost didn't even look at you as he leaned towards his own door and gave a short nod as an answer.

Your eyes returned to Price.

"Captain, slow down, we're off!", you informed the man in the front seat and opened your door not a second later.

One last time you locked eyes with Ghost, who already hung halfway out of the door and nodded to confirm that this mission was about to start.

He returned the gesture with his head.

Silently you counted to three in your head.

Your legs bend in to gather strength.

Then you closed your eyes and jumped.

Wind chased through your (H/C) hair as zero gravity let you float for a brief second.

The air burned in your lungs while you held your breath and waited for your body to hit the hard, stony ground of the Mexican desert.

It took a moment until rocks met your shoulders and made your flesh burn with bruises.

With your arms and legs pulled to your chest you rolled through the dirt.

A cloud of dust filled the dark sky while the black vehicle with the rest of the team chased away to the next location.

"100, you broken?", Price's voice asked through your earpiece.

Catching your breath, you got on your knees.

"Negative, captain.", you pulled your head in to not attract any attention in the dark and walked over to Ghost, who crouched behind a rock. "Ghost, you broken?"

"Negative.", he replied and got moving as soon as you had caught up to him. "Target's just up ahead. Cover me."

With a nod, you glued yourself to his heel.

Your eyes wandered through the dark.

Shabby looking houses and wrecked backyards appeared.

This wasn't the kind of neighbourhood you suspected a narco leader to hide in.

Yet again, there wasn't a lot that could surprise you.
Finding El Sin Nombre in this place wouldn't either.
With a raised hand, Ghost made you stop in front of a large wall.

"Up there.", he gestured.

You followed his hand.

"Ah...", you smirked at the sight of a house that was barely visible between the rocks of a mountain. "You know how to climb, Ghost?"