Liability [Simon Ghost Riley]

you're beautiful

Simon scopes out the safehouse quickly, he notices that they were the first to arrive. He asks her to stay in the car before doing a quick perimeter check to ensure they didnt have any shadow company waiting. Within five minutes he's hurrying down the stairs and jogs back to the car. He opens the door instantly noticing her heavy breathing and bloodshot eyes. Blood coated her face and her hair was half fallen out of the braid she had it in.

"You alright?" his deep voice asks, she stares straight through him as her body trembles. He takes a step closer to her and she begins to hyperventilate. "Come on let's get inside"

He helps her out of the truck and guides her into the house. Simon moves over to her and places his hands on her shoulders "You're okay love, you're safe now"

"I can't- I can't breathe" she says gripping onto his forearms, her knees buckle and he catches her, helping her to the floor. He follows her and kneels in front of her face, he rips off his gloves and vest and he places a hand on her cheek, the other grips onto her shaking and sweaty hand and places it on his chest.

"What do you feel?" he asks

"I- I don't know I can't feel anything" she whispers

"Phoebe focus, tell me what you feel right now"

"I can feel your hand" she gulps, trying to focus on him and only him.

"What else?"

"I feel your heart" she says staring at his chest, his heart was beating rapidly as well.

"Very good, now what do you hear?" he asks

"I hear you, and I hear crickets" she responds, holding onto his hand. She was beginning to feel better as he walked her through her panic attack one step at a time.

"What do you smell?"

"Blood" she says as she drops her hand from him, panic setting back in. The realization that she should've been blown to pieces just an hour ago hitting her once more.

"Taste?" he asks softly, trying to move on from the topic

"Blood" she responds as she squeezes her eyes shut and holds her hands against her face. Her strangled breaths caused him to drop his head, he needed to get her calm so he could treat her wounds.

"Phoebe look at me" he instructs

"I can't"

"Yes you can"

"No" she shakes her head "just leave, I'll be okay I just need a second"

"I'm not going anywhere, I told you already, I'm here love. I'm not gonna ask again, look at me" he instructs. He waits a few seconds and keeps his gaze on her. She finally meets his eyes, the panic and fear settle into her. He knew how it felt to be in so much pain and fear. The only difference was that he knew how to regulate it in the field, in his personal life - not so much.

"Tell me what you see" he says

"Ghost" she says softly

Simon drops his head, knowing that this wasn't helping. He didn't know what came over him in that moment, he didn't hesitate to rip off his mask and place it on the ground. She gasps as he looks up at her, his face fully revealed to her. It was the first time he'd shown someone his face in years. He keeps his gaze on her own, feeling nervous as to what she might think of him.

"What do you see now?" he asks

She sits up, and places her hand on his cheek, stroking the soft skin. Her attention shifts fully to him as her eyes take in his face, inch by inch she studies him. After several moments her eyes meet his own as a smile creeps onto her face.

"Simon" she says

"lets get you cleaned up"

Simon stands and helps her to her feet, they walk into the bathroom and he gestures to the counter. She sits on it, unable to take her eyes off of him. She was mesmerized by his beauty. His scruffy blonde hair, dark brown eyes and full lips. He was even prettier than she imagined, despite the black paint smudged on his eyes. She notices his built chest nearly pressed against hers as he wipes the blood and dirt from her face gently. For such a tough guy, for all she knew he was capable of with his hands, he held her like she was the most precious jewel in the world. Like he was scared she would break. He does not speak as he works at her skin, taking care to clean her up. She notices the tattoos on his right forearm and allows herself to get a closer look. She observes the designs in wonder, why had he gotten those tattoos, did it hurt, did he have any more? Simon places a gentle hand on her jaw, tilting it up as he sprayed the cloth with antiseptic spray.

"This is gonna sting" he warns, looking into her eyes for permission. She nods and bites her lip as he gently dabs away at the skin. His heart slammed in his chest as he attempted to control his anger, seeing her injured was far worse than any wound he'd ever received. One drop of her blood was enough to send him tumbling towards the edge. He never wanted to see her hurt, it made him sick to his stomach. He places the butterfly stitch on her wound and notices her intense gaze on his face. He chuckles and meets her eyes.

"you're beautiful" she says, before she could stop herself. Simon keeps his hands on her face and gently grazes her skin with his thumb. He takes her palm into his hand and kisses it gently. His eyes meet hers as they breathe heavily. Both had never felt more nervous yet exhilarated in their lives. His free hand moves up to her cheek, pulling her closer. Their noses brush and she lets out a shaky breath. His eyes search hers for any sign of discomfort. Time seemed to stop in that moment, in what was most likely a few moments, felt like hours.

Simon closes the gap and kisses her gently. Her body reacts instantly, at the feeling. She curls her hand around the back of his neck, gripping at the ends as he pulls her closer. Ever cell in her body was on fire, she'd never felt this way before. A need to be closer, any distance between them was wrong. Everything they'd been through had brought them to this, the fighting, the anger, the longing all expressed through this kiss. Both having pictured the moment thousands of times, but reality proved far greater than any daydream.

He is the first to pull away, allowing them both to catch their breath, her eyes catch his once more before she connects their lips again, deciding that breathing wasn't necessary. His hand falls down her spine, and down to her waist, gripping her hip. She gasps and he takes the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. He smiles at her inexperience and pulls back gently, he tilts her head back and runs his finger over her soft lips. Before he could continue the sound of a car door slamming causes his body to tense. He pulls back and unrwraps himself from her body. He moves to the bedroom and checks through the blinds. Sighing as he saw the rest of the team unloading from the vans.

"I need to get down there, I'll check on that in the morning, you should get some rest" he says, reaching into his pocket and grabbing the mas, he slips it on instantly switching back into ghost mode. She nods, unable to speak and remains in place. He smirks before rolling up the bottom of it just below his nose. In the blink of an eye he's in front of her again, he kisses her gently. This one much shorter than the others they shared. "I'll be back later"

He promises before slipping out of the room. Leaving her in complete shock.