The Crow & The Ghost: A Dystopian AU Simon Ghost Riley x Reader

Chapter Thirty: The Beginning of the End

Two days later, you wake up to the sound of your phone vibrating wildly on the bedside table—an incoming call.
You twist over to see Riley sleeping beside you, his muscled back on display as he lays on his side. You had slept in his bed the last two nights, had spent every waking moment with him. Keegan and Soap had left two nights before, after Riley had made all four of you chicken parmesan for dinner.
It had been a quiet, easy, perfect last few days. Even with everything that mattered practically suspended in mid-air, it was nice to take some time to be free to just exist, to just be quiet. You couldn't remember the last time you had done that. And seeing Riley in his home, in the most domestic, relaxed state he could possibly be in, made you realize how much you truly did care for him.
This wasn't lust anymore, you could be sure of that now.
You shift over to the side of the bed and reach for your phone, a gasp escaping your throat when you see Kieran's name being displayed.
He was calling you.
"Kieran?" Your voice is breathless, as if you've been running, the shock of his name stealing the air from your lungs.
"Hi." Kieran says, his voice crackling through the phone.
Tears spring to your eyes almost immediately, and you sit up in the bed, your free hand hovering over your mouth as you press the phone against your ear. "Are you all right?"
You hear the sound of a scoff. "Is that really the question you want to ask me, Crow?"
You pause. "I—uh—"
"For all intents and purposes, I'm fine." Kieran interjects. "It's been a rough few days. But I... met Meara."
"You did?"
"Yes," Kieran says slowly, as if not wanting to divulge details. "It was... um. Well, it was interesting, I guess."
"Did she recognize you?"
"Hm. Well." He pauses for a moment before continuing. "She did after I ripped Dana Bosh's throat out."
You nearly drop the phone. "You what?"
Kieran says nothing. The silence makes your stomach drop. You practically jump out of the bed, scurrying out of the bedroom and into the rest of the apartment, closing the door behind you so that you don't wake Riley.
"Are you still there?" Kieran asks. His voice sounds weary and distant, not at all like the man you've loved and known so well.
"Yes. You're the one who didn't say anything." You say as you walk up to one of the large windows, your eyes not registering anything outside as you come to stand still in front of the glass. "Did you kill Dana Bosh, Kieran?"
"No." Kieran says. "But I gave her a similar injury to mine. I... I might have lost my sanity in the last few days. I feel like I'm coming back to myself now, though. But yeah, I might have been fucking pissed to see the face of the person that caused this mess. And now she's... she's Undead, Crow."
"Fuck."
"Meara got her wish, didn't she?" Kieran says, a note of bitterness in his voice. "She gets to be with her stupid girlfriend now."
"That wasn't her wish and you know that," You snap. "She wanted Dana to be able to remain a human. And now General Moorehouse's daughter is an Undead? This is a disaster."
"You aren't part of the Defense anymore, so what does it matter to you?" Kieran snaps back. "Dana is a bad person, Crow."
"She was also young." You say, your voice rising in anger. "She had a whole life ahead of her, she could have learned—"
"Oh, and did I not?" Kieran's voice is filled with venom. "Did I not also have a whole life ahead of me? Now Dana and I are in the same fucking position, but I don't deserve to be here."
"No, you don't." You reply, trying to keep your voice even. "And Riley didn't deserve you asking him to murder you in cold blood."
There was silence for a moment, the words hanging in the air. You wait a few seconds to let Kieran respond, but when he doesn't, you can't keep quiet any longer, can't let the silence continue to stretch between you.
"Don't punish Riley for telling me—I figured it out myself after you choked him for no fucking reason." You say, your voice sharp. "I found him unconscious on the floor just after you left. What were you thinking, Kieran? And don't you dare think about punishing him because you're mad at me. Just because you're Undead doesn't mean you're gone, and I have no intentions of giving up on you or exiling you from my life. We're going to have to have it out at some point about all the things we haven't gotten to talk about. Why not do it now?"
"You want me in your life still?" Kieran's voice is quiet, soft. As if all the anger has suddenly left him, which surprises you. "After all this, you want me still?"
"Of course I do," You say, though your voice is still hard, harder than you want it to be. "I mean that, Kieran."
"Then why are we fighting against Meara?" Kieran replies. "Isn't this all she wanted? For Undead to be able to stay in the lives of the humans they love?"
Your mouth snaps shut before you speak again, the statement taking you by surprise. "That's different."
"In what way?"
"She's been violent. She was attacking people, doing guerilla warfare, basically. You know that. You remember how she was when we met her."
"And what if I become more violent?" Kieran replies. "What if I start killing people? Does that mean your feelings will change?"
You sigh, squeezing your eyes shut. Your head was spinning trying to work out how you were rationalizing this, but your brain wasn't moving quickly enough for the conversation. "That's not—"
"Yes, it is." Kieran shoots back, his voice rising in anger again. "You're being hypocritical right now, and you know it. Either all Undead have the opportunity to be connected to the people they love, or none of them do."
"I think... I think they could be allowed to if they were able to remain peaceful and were capable of satiating their hunger." You muse, though the words feel hollow in your throat. "It could only work if people weren't at risk for being attacked."
"And how would you measure that on a grand scale, Crow?" Kieran demands, his words coming out pointed, like barbed wire. "How could you ever enforce something like that? Keep track of every Undead's day to day emotions and hunger levels? It's an all or nothing thing, and you know it. Do you want me in your life or not? Your mission against Meara depends on it."
"No, it doesn't." You scoff in disbelief. "Don't give me an ultimatum like that, you know it's unfair."
"I'm not going to kill her, Crow."
You freeze. "What?"
"What will it solve?" Kieran asks, sounding tired again. "This won't end with her. For as long as any Undead keeps a shred of their humanity, as long as they can remember their human life, as long as the people they love are still out there... they're going to be chasing that connection. Maybe not all of them, but never none."
"And will you?" Your palm is sweaty as you hold your phone, and your fingers adjust as you press it against your ear, your heart beating wildly in your chest. "Will you chase it?"
Will you chase me?
"Don't make me answer that right now, Crow." Kieran says, his voice cracking on the words. "I don't even know if I can live like this."
"Kieran—"
"I'm sorry I won't be able to complete the mission." He interrupts. "But there isn't really a mission anymore, is there? This is all way too fucked for any of us to fix."
You sigh, running a hand through your hair and turning away from the window. You stare at the floor as you start wandering aimlessly around the apartment.
"No," You say. "I don't think there's much of a mission anymore. But Meara and Dana can't get away with what they did."
"What if I told you the two of them were meeting Moorehouse and other higher ups in the Defense tonight to discuss peace?"
You actually drop the phone this time.
"Shit," You hiss as you bend down and pick the phone up with shaking hands, bringing it back to your ear. "What the fuck did you just say?"
"I think you heard me." Kieran says dryly.
"Moorehouse asked Dana and Meara to meet? To discuss peace?"
"Wouldn't you do the same if you had been warring with the woman your daughter loved, and now that woman was poised to keep her away from you forever?"
Well, fuck. When you put it like that...
"Crow?" You hear Riley's voice, thick with sleep, from behind you. You stop your pacing and turn, seeing his massive frame in the doorway to his bedroom, Circe cradled in one of his arms. He's wearing basketball shorts and no shirt, and he looks like the most incredible creature to have ever walked the earth. Even in this moment, with the shitstorm brewing in your mind, his rugged beauty still manages to take your breath away.
His eyes are half shut but his brows are furrowed, concern etched into his features. "Who are you talking to?"
You mouth Kieran's name, and Riley's eyebrows shoot up.
"Are you going to that meeting?" You ask Kieran, keeping your eyes on Riley as you speak.
"I am," Kieran says slowly. "I'm not working for Meara or anything, but I'm a good bridge between—"
"I get it." You say quickly. "You don't have to explain. I'm sure Meara is part of the reason you aren't a feral beast right now."
This earns you a small chuckle from Kieran. "You're right, actually. I went to confront her, like we all planned, but when I found Dana with her I just snapped. She didn't have much of a choice other than to help me come back to myself, unless she wanted her and Dana to both be fucking mincemeat. Now she's trying to see how she can use me, I think. She knows I have nowhere else to go. Can't say I blame her."
"Me either." You walk over to Riley and place your head on his chest. He runs a hand up and down your back as you lean against his solid frame, Circe snuggled between both of your bodies.
"I'm sorry Kieran," You say. "For everything. I don't know how else to say it. I don't know how to fix it, either."
"It's past fixing, Crow." Kieran sighs, which makes your heart twist. "The night I died everything became past fixing. All we can do is try to move beyond it and let it go. If I'm able to stay in your life."
"I want you to stay in my life, Kieran, more than anything."
Kieran inhales deeply, as if trying to quell his frustration. "And here we are, back at that initial argument."
"Hmmm." Is all you say, Riley's hand now massaging your head. Your eyes have drifted closed and you feel as though you're going to fall asleep while standing.
If only you could just spend your life here with Riley in this apartment, letting him massage your scalp. If only it were that simple.
"I love you, Crow," Kieran says quietly. "No matter how this ends."
Your eyes drift open. "I love you, Kieran. I always have."
"I know you do," He replies. "I know you love me even more than that dump truck you call a boyfriend."
You bark out a laugh. "Way more than the dump truck, that'll always be true."
There's silence between you for a few moments, both of you enjoying the brief bit of lightness that comes with a stupid joke. Finally, Kieran says: "I should go. I've been standing on this curb for a little too long. They'll probably know it's you I'm talking to."
"Okay," You say, Riley's hand now settling on the back of your neck. "I guess... give me a call when you have an update?"
"I'll try." Kieran says. "I don't think this is the last time we'll be having to talk about this."
"Me either."
"By the way..." Kieran's tone suddenly changes, and you narrow your eyes suspiciously. You know this tone a little too well. "What are you all doing now that you're not Defensemen? What's the plan?"
You stifle a cringe. "I wish I knew."
"Well, considering you and Ghost are both hot as fuck," Kieran drawls, almost sounding like his old self. "Have you guys ever considered the ever-profitable industry that is po—"
"Kieran Corr," You snap. "Do not finish that sentence—"
"We can talk about it more another time, then." Kieran interjects, a small giggle in his voice. "Bye, Crow."
Maybe I haven't truly lost him after all.
You let your hand drop to your side as you stand up straight, moving off of Riley. You tilt your head to look up at him just as Circe jumps out of his arm, allowing him to use both hands to cup your face. His dark eyes search yours.
"What did he say?"
You take a deep breath and lead Riley over to the couch to sit him down before you relay the entire conversation. Once you're finished, Riley just stares at you. His eyes withhold whatever emotion is roiling beneath the surface, and you can practically see the thoughts churning in his mind. His eyebrows are flat, his mouth in a hard line. He's entirely still, studying you as he thinks over everything you've said.
You stare back at him and wait for him to speak.
Suddenly, Riley's arm shifts as you feel the warmth of his calloused hand as he comes to hold yours. Your eyes dart down to see how your hand is dwarfed in comparison to his, how delicately he holds you. You look back up at him with a small smile and see that he's still staring at you.
"We're going to Headquarters this evening, aren't we?" Riley asks softly.
"Of course we are." You reply in equal softness.
"It ends tonight." He says.
"Yes." You whisper. You have no idea how, but you only know that it does. You can feel it in the air around you, feel it in the way the sun shines through the windows of your new home.
Riley leans towards you, until his face is only inches away. "Remember that day in your office, when you asked me if I hated it as much as you do?"
Of course you did. You recalled the despair in his eyes, the sunken sorrow. He was only a figure to you then, a masked Lieutenant you wanted so desperately to hate. But in that moment he had given you a glimpse of himself, had shown you the tiniest bit of vulnerability that had been the beginning of the end.
Do you hate it as much as I do, Lieutenant Riley?
I do, little Crow. I do hate it. But not in the way you think.
"Yes," You reply. "Why?"
Riley's eyes bounce between yours as he places a hand on your neck. "I've hated everything less since you've come into my life," He says softly. "I won't let anybody take that away from me."
"I know that," You say, confused. "That's why we're here now."
"Yes. But tonight is the last time I'm going to allow myself to hate my life," Riley says. "After tonight, we're done. Do you understand me, little Crow?"
Your brows knit together, not fully understanding. "Done?"
"Done with the Defense, with the Undead." Riley clarifies. "Done trying to be the heroes. I want to live, little Crow. I want to put this behind us. Let's just see it through tonight, and whatever decision Moorehouse makes, or whatever the fuck Meara does... it's not for us to fight anymore."
You let out a small sigh of relief. "I think that's the right thing for us to do."
Riley gives you a smile. "Knowing I have you at the end is all I need. I can live through the hell of going back there if I get to leave with you."
You smile back at him, put your hand on his cheek. Your thumb strokes his bare face, feeling the start of stubble there. "Me too, Simon."
Riley leans forward, stopping just as his lips brush against yours. "We'll wear the masks together one last time, Lieutenant."
"My last time," You correct. You drag your tongue softly across his bottom then upper lip. "You, however, will have to be putting that thing on for me until the end of your days."
Riley lets out a quiet, strangled groan, a sound that's just barely audible but loud enough to create a pool in the pit of your stomach.
"Whatever you say," He whispers, his eyes fluttering closed. "You have me on my fucking knees for you, always."
"Like a good little bitch." You murmur into his mouth, grinning wide, and then you press your lips to his, lost to him for the rest of the morning, briefly pretending that the fate of everything wasn't looming in the shadows just beyond what the apartment's sunlight couldn't touch.

*End of Chapter Thirty*