Beyond Duty - Simon Ghost Riley x Reader

Chapter 20. Ghost

I can feel the heat radiating from the staircase door as we approach, the intensity almost suffocating. My eyes narrow, stinging with irritation.

Ahead, I watch as Y/N barrels down the stairs, pushing past us without a second thought. Then before I know it, she's gone, disappearing into the smoke.

Fuck.

The soldiers weren't wrong about her. When Price and I scouted her as a recruit for Task Force 141, they warned us. She's fast, unmatched, even. But that speed comes with recklessness. Carelessness.

I shrug off my backpack and yank out three ventilator masks, passing them to both Soap and Rudy. I barely have time to put mine on when I hear boots pounding toward us. None of us even manage to get the damned ventilator masks on. Mine drops to the linoleum floor with a dull sounding clatter.

How many of these bastards are there?

"Fuckin' hell," I mutter, raising my weapon. My eyes lock on the movement ahead. "Ambush!" I shout to Soap and Rudy. It's meant for Y/N, too, but I doubt she can even hear me.

I need to finish this and get to her fast.

My rifle fires first, the shot cutting through the narrow hallway and hitting my target. But they're too close, swarming. I drop the rifle and instead grab my pistol.

Soap dives behind a trash can, narrowly avoiding a bullet that ricochets off with a metallic sounding clink. I stride forward, firing the pistol, and I can feel its recoil push against my palm. My first target drops, blood spraying as the bullet fires into his skull.

Adrenaline rushes through me, my heart pounding. Another soldier falls, I'm pretty sure it's Soap's shot this time, blood painting the wall behind him.

I push forward, closing the gap. One poor bastard makes the mistake of charging me. I grab his rifle, twisting his wrist until I hear a crack, forcing the trigger to shoot into the ceiling. Slamming him against the wall, I shoot him point-blank in his abdomen, then finish with a shot to his temple. Blood spatters across my gear.

"Done and dusted," I mutter, letting his corpse slump to the floor with a heavy thud.

"L.T.!" Soap's voice snaps me back, sharp with urgency. My head whips around.

A soldier has me in his sights.

The shot comes too fast to dodge. Pain swells in my right shoulder, sharp and intense. I can't help but stagger, my left hand instinctively gripping the wound.

"Bullocks!" I yell.

Rudy's rifle fires, taking out the threat before he can finish me off. The air stills. No more boots. No more gunfire. Just the distant crackling sounds of flames through the stairwell.

Soap rushes to me, his gaze fixed on my shoulder, obvious worry spreads across his face.

"Hell of a day, aye?"

Blood soaks through the sleeve of my tactical uniform, warm and sticky. I don't respond. There's no time. The stairwell door creaks open, and my eyes snap to it.

"Y/N," I breathe, too quiet for Soap to hear, but it's Rudy, not you. He stumbles through, struggling as he carries Alejandro's limp body into the hallway. I see more smoke spilling out from the stairwell and into here. I race past the both of them, heading towards the doorway.

"Soap! Help Rudy and meet the others outside," I bark.

"But—" Soap starts in protest.

"NOW!" I cut him off, grabbing the ventilator mask I dropped earlier and bolting through the doorway.

My hand finds my radio. "Violet, this is Ghost. How copy?" My voice is strained, desperate. No answer.

"Y/N? How copy?"

Smoke burns my lungs as I press forward. A figure comes into view ahead of me, moving through the smoke to escape the fire. Relief surges through me for a quick moment, then just as quickly dies.

Hostile.

I unsheath my combat knife, closing the distance between the two of us in one motion. I shove him against the wall, my knife sinking into his abdomen, slicing through with ease before I remove it just to slit his throat. Blood pours onto my gloves.

Fuckin' hell, I'm a mess.

I step over his body, wasting no time in leaving him there to die. It's not long before my feet plant to the bottom of the staircase. I can't see a damned thing in this smoke.

I trudge through the smoke filled area, my already irritated eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of her.

I can't help but let my mind be consumed with the thought of losing her.

I'd never actually admit my feelings for her, never let myself feel it. I don't dare get too close. I'm too fucked up. Too scared of losing someone I care about. But as I continue to search for her through the smoke and flames, I can't imagine a world without her.

Suddenly, I hear a sound of faint coughing, and I instantly follow the sound. My pulse quickens. My shoulder hurts. My eyes fucking hurt.

Then I see her.

She's lying on the ground, her body limp and still. I know shes not dead, only because I heard with my own ears her cough just moments ago.

Relief overwhelms me as I rush to her side, scooping her into my arms. Pain tears through my shoulder, but I grit my teeth. No time to fuck up right now. I press the ventilator mask over her face. She's unconscious, her face covered in soot. I hold her close, feeling her weight as I extend my legs, standing tall as I take the first step towards the staircase.

I start to climb up, each step brings more pain in my shoulder. The smoke is suffocating me as I make large strides. I pass the body I killed just moments ago, blood and intestines cover the steps. The intense heat already dried the blood onto the concrete steps.

I should have done more to the slag.

I make it to the top of the stairwell, pushing through the doorway. The warehouse halls are no better, smoke swirls around us, making it nearly impossible to breathe. I can hear the others shouting, trying to grab our attention. I don't respond, instead I keep moving, her weight grounding me, my focus solely on getting her out of this damned building.

Finally, fresh air hits my lungs. The cold bites at my skin as I step outside, where I see Soap and Rudy are regrouping with the others.

Soap's eyes lock onto me.

No, not me. Her

"Ghost, what's wrong?" He asks, rushing to my side, his eyes locked on Y/N.

I shake my head, unable to speak, my throat raw. I just hold her close to me, feeling her heartbeat thumping against me.

The team springs into action, almost ripping her from my arms. I stand there, watching as they lay her beside Alejandro. A medic helicopter looms in the distance, its blades slicing through the air. She'll make it. She has to.

I would kill for a bloody cigarette right now, as if I didn't just inhale a lethal amount of smoke already.

I pull off my skull mask, lifting my balaclava just enough to sip water from a bottle in the Jeep. My throat burns, the taste of smoke still thick in my mouth. Blood smears the seat, but I don't care.

I fucked up today. This happened on my watch.

I fucked up.