Liability [Simon Ghost Riley]

here for you

Phoebe sat with her back pressed against the guard tower, she stared out at the empty base, the calmest she'd ever seen it. Tears stream down her face as she tries to reconcile the truth: her sister was dead. It didn't feel real, how could Emma be gone, she'd just talked to her earlier that morning. Though she'd long since washed the blood off of her hands, she still felt it. She looks down for the millionth time checking them. She shakes her head and runs her hand through her hair.

"what are you doing out here?" a familiar deep voice asks

She whips around to see none other than Simon Riley in his balaclava at the top of the steps. "Simon, you scared me" she says holding a hand to her heart "I couldn't sleep"

"me neither" he responds as he moves to sit beside her. "How are you doing?"

"I'm not really sure yet, I don't wanna talk about it if that's okay" she says, looking over at him. He nods, worrying that he wasn't the right person to be here. He'd always been dreadfully bad at speaking. Never was he a man of many words, he'd use as many as he needed to get his point across and end it there. If he could speak in one-word sentences he would. He knew that any of the others would be able to comfort her, say something that would make her feel better.

"tell me something" she asks gently

"what do you want to know?" he responds, shifting uncomfortably, another thing he wasn't good at; talking about himself.

"anything about you" she says softly "please" she nearly whispers

Simon looks at her thoughtfully, never feeling more exposed in his life. He swallows the lump in his throat and tries to think of something he could share. He knew she needed this, she needed a distraction. If it were anybody else he wouldn't have stayed, if this were anyone else he would've excused himself instantly. But this was Phoebe. The woman who'd somehow melted the ice in his heart. The woman he found himself thinking about at all hours of the day. The only woman he'd ever really trusted. She was the first person to learn his name in years, bringing him back from the 'ghost' persona that he'd so carefully crafted. She saw him, and he was terrified.

Simon takes a deep breath, knowing that there was no going back now. "Well, um... when I was a kid, my parents took me out to a cabin in the woods a lot. We'd go fishing and swim in the lake during the summertime"

"sounds wonderful" she smiles, imagining the scenery and a little Simon running around with a fishing pool in hand.

"it was" he says, staring down at his gloved hands. "sometimes I think about how different my life would have been if I had just stayed there... would've been so simple... maybe I would have even met someone, and started a family of my own, had some semblance of a life outside of this"

Both are shocked at his confession, Phoebe was certain that this was the most he'd ever spoken at once. Her heart swells as she notices his behavior shift. He was sad.

"so there is no Mrs. Riley back home then?"

"no, no there isn't" he responds, not an ounce of emotion in his voice, she could tell he was trying to pull away. She was losing him.

"what do you do when you're not here? How does Simon spend his days off?" she asks, trying to lighten the mood. Her heart leaps when he chuckles softly.

"I'm out on missions or back at base waiting for the next one" he shrugs

"So you're telling me you have no hobbies?" she asks

"what, you mean like knitting?" he asks sarcastically

"Sure" she giggles

"I'm going to tell you something I've told very few people. this stays between you and me, alright?"