As Grim as the Reaper | PREQUEL Simon 'GHOST' Riley

FOURTEEN

The Echo 6 squadron became a force to be reckoned with almost overnight.

Your fearless leading, the sheer volume of skill your comrades held, you were unstoppable, and bloody good.

Some may even say better than Echo 3.

Mission after mission, covert op after covert op, you proved yourselves over and over again. Laswell had been right to bring you all together, because now, when enemies knew Echo 6 were coming, they ran.

They ran with the power of fear.

And fuck, did you have so much fun with them.

Orlando and Bradshaw's daily flirting kept the team morale sky high, as the rest of you revelled in his constantly being shot down.

Trace was possibly one of the sweetest men you'd met; he looked up to you, like a little brother looking up to his sister. You'd never had that, so the kind of love you developed for him was foreign to you, but you embraced it wholeheartedly.

And Stevens, well, you and he bonded almost immediately. You reminded him of his own younger sister, and so every mission, he had you back as if you were her.

You met his family, became great friends with his wife, he even made you aunt and god-mother to his son, Charlie, who was only three at the time.

Echo 6 team had become your family, and you loved them dearly.

Even Graves had become close with them, him wanting to know he could fully trust the people who's hands held your life every time you were deployed.

It was hard at first, any time he had to go on a mission without you, or you without him. But you were able to figure it out, because the two of you wanted nothing more than your relationship to work.

And it was.

You'd never been happier, and your relationship with the commander had been growing incredibly. You'd never experienced being in love before, but you were starting to think that maybe this was what it was like.

Because being with him was so fucking easy.

But even with that, even with your team, none of it was quite enough to fill the hole that Alex had left behind.

It was approaching almost a year since he was declared MIA, and missing him never got any easier.

Once again, any intel pertaining to him was being kept from you, General Shepherd wanting your attention on your new team, and your new team only. 

You were all gathered in the break room, Orlando playing foosball with Trace, Stevens video calling his wife, and you and Emily gossiping in the corner. 

"So, are you ever gonna actually give Orlando a chance?" You asked.

She looked over to him, sighing dreamily as she watched him celebrate another point, "I really don't know."

"It's so obvious you fancy him, I hope you know that."

"You're one to talk? We all had bets on how long it'd take you to give in to the Commander." She argued back.

Your jaw dropped open, a laugh coming out as you swiped at her playfully, the two of you giggling.

"Okay, fine, I can't say anything. But I did take the leap, you should too. That boy is head over heels in love with you, Em."

"Yeah, maybe he is."

Before you could say anything else, your phone rang, Laswell's picture flashing on the screen.