She's Bad News- Simon Riley x reader

Forty three

a/n: (Caleb and Malak ^^^)

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{Simon}

   "Now you're starting to sound more like a soldier, Caleb."

I listen in, my ears straining to make out every word. And when I hear it, the mention of Caleb's name, it stops me cold. Shocked to my core as I struggle to make sense of the impossible.

'Caleb?' The word catches in my throat, my eyes wide as I struggle to believe what I've just heard.

"Whoever they were shooting at is gone." He says as they slowly pace around the room, the sound of broken glass crunching under their boots fills the room with each step.

"Wait." The man with the foreign accent says. "Over there."

My eyes are caught by the reflection of the broken glass on the floor. Their footsteps slowly closing in on my location, their intentions unknown in this moment. And as I see their hand signals, I realize that they're preparing to eliminate me.

It was now or never.

"You wouldn't shoot an old friend would you?" I say, the words slipping out of my mouth before I have a chance to second guess myself.

The two soldiers stop walking, their eyes widening in surprise as they hear my voice. My heart beats in my chest, hope and dread coursing through my veins in equal measure.

"Holy shit!" Caleb's voice chirps up, his footsteps closing in faster than before. "Is that you Ghost?"

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding as I recognize Caleb's voice, relief washing over me. It really is him.

"Yes, it's me." My voice echoes through the empty building, the words feeling unreal as I say them. "Ghost."

Slowly, I stand up, no longer crouching behind the office divider, the glass on the floor no longer a barrier between us as I take in his appearance. His eyes widen before he yanks off his mask.

He's bigger, more lean and clean cut than he was months ago. He looks stronger, more determined than the last time I saw him. He looks like a soldier now, a fighter. His uniform hugs his body, the fabric clinging to each muscle like a second skin.

His hair has grown, a little longer on the top opposed to the buzzcut he sported all that time ago. The stubble on his face is just as I remembered it, though this time it blends into the light shadow that now covers his cheeks. His face is set with a determined expression, his brows furrowed as if he's seen too much and carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. Yet his face is still warm and friendly, and that grin lights up his face as if it never left.

"It's good to see you again mate." I nod in response.

Caleb smiles, his face breaking out into a wide grin as he takes in my appearance once more.

"It's good to see you too, man." Caleb's smile stretches from one ear to the other, and he shakes his head in wonder. "Man, this is wild." His words come out in a rush as he tries to take in everything that has happened. "I thought you were... you know."

"You're telling me?" I give him a knowing look.

Caleb's deep, booming laugh fills the room, bouncing off the walls and echoing in my ears. It's a sound I haven't heard in months, and there's something strange about hearing it again, like crossing some sort of boundary. The sound making me feel both strangely glad and strangely melancholy at the same time. It's like stepping into the past, but also the future, all at once.