Recruit 2162 | Ghost x Reader

Chapter 7

You were in his hands.

He'd held you, in not so many words, right there in his palm. Your hair was against his skin, eyes warm and inviting on the other side.

The thing he didn't want to admit, the thing he thought was an impossibility became true. Ghost had spent so much of his time repressing his growing admiration towards you that the thought hadn't crossed his mind that you could possibly reciprocate his feelings.

There was a part of him that didn't want that, it would've made things much less complicated if you hadn't returned his affection, if he could keep it to himself for the rest of his days. At first, it was a personal, selfish thing; his concerns for your wellbeing, how he'd be affected if something happened to you. Now, though, it was the two of you. Both uncertain of how to navigate what'd been set in motion.

Denial had worked for a time when it came to his opinion of you. It couldn't work now, he'd seen it, felt it, the way you felt something close to what he did. Asking why felt pointless, so he didn't bother.

It was foreign to him to be touched so sweetly, so gently, and with so much care. He didn't care for physical contact, in fact, he held a large amount of contempt for it, considering his experience during his formative years had always been tough and brutal. Later, when those demons were put to rest, normal physical contact had always made him feel concerned with what was to come next; when the pat on a shoulder would become a punch or worse. An inevitability he'd rather avoid, even though he knew logically that not everyone would treat him in such a way.

However, there was no denying the surefire tenderness of your hands.

He'd seen you be hard and tough often enough by now. He knew what that looked like in you, when you were filled with adrenaline or working through pain. There was no pain, no brutality in your fingertips as they briefly explored his skin, instead there was another emotion that Ghost daren't let himself give a name to.

He laid awake that night, deciding the best course of action and how to continue going forward, both with work and with you. While he knew it was bad news to be involved with a teammate, he couldn't quite bring himself to care.

-

It'd been made known to you the next morning that you were to ship out to Urzikstan that day. The plan was taking some time to devise, considering the required particularness of it, so it was decided that you may as well make yourself useful in the meantime.

Alex had mentioned Farah's request for an assist, so you were going with him. Another would be joining you too, one you were particularly happy to be shipped off with.

Sometime before departure, you'd passed by Laswell's office. She seemed a little more at ease than usual, so you decided to drop in and see how she was. Turns out, she appreciated the company, and the two of you took time out to chat.

"Nikolai's been helpful," she sat back in her chair, tracing her finger along the grooves in the wood of her desk. "I'm hoping I'll have good news for when you return."

"I hope so too. Are you certain you don't need us here?"

"Positive, you'll be of much more use to Farah."

"Do you know what she needs help with?" you asked, getting comfortable in the chair opposite her.

"Just some defence, I think. Militia has been on her case recently, according to Alex she could use some extra pairs of hands."

"Alex is over there a lot, is he?"

Laswell hummed her agreement. "He spent a lot of time there a while ago, back when we were heavily involved with Farah and before Hadir showed his true colours."