Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Simon glared at the wall as he sat in a chair outside of Price’s office. Hearing someone turn on the radio to cover their conversation, he gave a pointed thump. Saying that Simon was attached to Johnny was like saying that the sky was blue, and it was starting to show more and more. Simon stuck to Johnny like glue, to the point that it would occasionally cause issues. That’s why, when some recruits fucked up on a “worldwide secret” level and they needed to be traded out, Price raised the idea of finding someone for Simon to mentor or befriend. No one seemed to care that Simon was completely fine with their arrangement as is! Sure he’s trapped the Sergeant in a cuddle for the duration of his nap a few times, and maybe it made him late to a couple meetings, but that didn’t matter! Sadly, the sentiment didn’t carry over to anyone else, and now Price, Laswell, and Johnny were in the office picking out his new “friend”. Over an hour later, the radio finally went off and Simon perked up, waiting for his boyfriend to show.

Johnny grinned as he left the office, leaning in for Simon to chin him. “You miss me, L.T.?”
“Hush.”

Simon could’ve purred in contentment if a folder wasn’t slapped against his chest. He groaned and took it. “What’s this?”
“Your runner up bestie.”

He huffed, frowning at the front of the folder as he took in its appearance. “Name’s redacted and there’s no picture.”
“Figured that’d be right up your alley. He’s a hybrid, too.”
“Hm. Rank?”
“Private. Mission notes are good, so he’s probably on his way to a promotion at some point.”

Simon huffed at that. “You’ve got me babysitting.”

Johnny didn’t bother hiding his grin. “It’ll be fine. You trust our judgment, right?”

With a huff, Simon set his chin back on Johnny’s head. “I suppose. When’s he coming in?”
“Two weeks from now. You’ve got time to mentally prepare.”

Johnny fought back a fond chuckle as the other man thumped, clearly unhappy with the arrangement. “It’ll be fine. What’s the worst that can happen?”

Chapter Text

The next two weeks were filled with questions, none of which had answers. Simon’s thumping was becoming more and more frequent, showing his displeasure for this whole situation. “Do we know anything about our new crew members?”

Price gave him a look. “I’d show you their files, but I have a feeling that you want to know about someone whose file you already have.”
“Affirmative.”
“We know what’s in that file and nothing else.”
“Not even what kind of hybrid he is?”
“Nope.”
“So you could be setting me up to work with a carnivore that might go after, say, a rabbit?”
“Ghost.”
“Right, Sir.”

At Simon’s huff, Price gave him an apologetic gaze. “I’m sorry, Simon. But I know that you’ll handle this. I wouldn’t have greenlighted this otherwise.”

Simon nodded, leaving the office and heading off to go vent to his boyfriend. “Soap.”

Johnny looked up as his boyfriend called him, motioning him to sit by him as he talked to Kyle. “Two minutes.”

He nodded and laid on the couch, putting his legs over Johnny’s lap. Johnny was quick to readjust his legs, moving him just to the right position to lessen the constant ache in his back. Once they finished their conversation and Kyle left, he turned to Simon. “What’s wrong?”
“We know absolutely nothing about the new hybrid. I’m not liking it.”
“I know. You’ve been thumping so much that I’m surprised you haven’t gone through the floor.”

Simon glared at him, crossing his arms. “I am well within my right to be pissed that I’ll be stuck babysitting.”
“Oh come on-”
“Johnny.”
“Aye, love.”

The two sat in silence for a bit before Simon sighed. “The group is en route to touch down at 0500 tomorrow.”
“I know, love.”
“Not looking forward to this.”
“I know.”

Johnny was trying his best to comfort his Lieutenant, he really was. Sadly, the situation wasn’t one that they could change now. So this time, he settled for comfort instead of a solution.

Ghost found himself on tarmac, watching the helicopter touch down and a wave of people disembark. He studied everyone coming out, scanning for the private while trying to commit the new faces to memory. It took a while, but eventually a fully covered face exited the helicopter, followed by a soldier with a grin that left him feeling unsettled. He stepped up to the two, seeing his mask reflected in the visor of the other’s helmet. “Riot?”

If the grinning man didn’t make him uncomfortable enough, he spoke over the private. “Yep, this is him! Glad to be rid of him, we didn’t need another hybrid on the team. You his next handler?”

Ghost scoffed. “No, just another hybrid.”

The man took one look at Ghost and made a run for the helicopter, leaving the private with him. Riot nodded his thanks, before grabbing his bag and tilting his head towards the base. “Not much of a talker, are you?”

Riot shook his head, coughing into his elbow. Ghost raised an eyebrow behind his mask. “You sick?”

At the other’s insistent head shake, he frowns. “Were you sick?”

A nod. “Contagious?”

Another head shake. “Good. You can make yourself a tea after your tour.”

At the other’s nod, he sighed, leading the way into the base. “Come on. Let’s get you settled.”

Chapter Text

The next few days continued almost like normal, save for the new presence that would occasionally hover in the room with him. Once Ghost got his private settled, the other man made a point to follow him around, at least until he got his bearings. The helmet was a constant thing, according to one of the medics that came in with him. She wouldn’t elaborate why, so he and the others were left playing a guessing game with it. Soap had purposefully waited until they were alone to suggest that he may be ugly underneath it, making Ghost snort. As it was, they decided that it was a security thing, like Ghost’s balaclava or Roach’s helmet.

Unlike the last few days, Ghost had gone a few hours without even catching a glimpse of his private. Being a natural skeptic, he wandered the halls, really listening for him. Loud jeering from one of the common areas caught his ear and he went to investigate. He found a moderately sized group of soldiers tossing something between each other, with the private he was looking for being the obviously unwilling target of their game of keepaway. Deciding the game was done, Ghost snatched the object out of the air, finding a stuffed animal in his grasp. As the room went silent, he turned to the private. “Riot. With me.”

Riot was quick to grab something from the microwave and follow the lieutenant out. Ghost held the toy out to him with a hum. “Let’s leave the toys in the barracks, okay?”
“...’s a heat pack.”

Ghost almost did a double take at the unfamiliar voice, looking at the private. “A heat pack?”

Riot nodded, adding what looked like a beanbag into a pocket on the toy’s back. “Hurt my back a bit. Minerva said to put heat on it so…”

Ghost led him to the Task Force’s rec room, sitting on his spot on the couch. He got one last look at the stuffed snow leopard before it was propped up against the couch and Riot sat in front of it. “Huh. Handy little thing.”
“...my pops got it for me when he adopted me.”

Riot refused to elaborate, though his posture was relaxed. Ghost regarded the private curiously, before deciding to try his luck. “...where’d you fly in from, kid?”
“Diego Garcia.”

Ghost frowned at that. “...never heard that one before. That home or last base?”
“Last base.”
“Interesting. Where’s home?”
“The States.”

That answer earned him a confused look from behind the balaclava. “From the way you sound, I would’ve thought you were from the UK.”
“‘S echolalia. Promise I’m not mocking you, it’s subconscious. I hear, I steal, I copy. Got British colleagues that got me stuck in British mode.”

Ghost snickered at ‘British mode’. “I see.”

At the younger’s shifting, he frowned. “How’d you hurt your back?”

Riot shrugged. “Stretched and it started burning. Nothing new.”
“Burning? That’s not normal.”
“Is for me.”

The younger chuckled to himself, repeating himself under his breath. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m okay. Did a cold compress and now a warm one.”

Ghost nodded. “Good lad.”

The duo sat in silence for a while, until Riot moved off of the stuffed animal. “You okay?”
“Mhm. He’s not warm anymore.”
“He got a name?”
“Zane. He’s a snow leopard.”
“Give.”

Ghost took the toy back, looking it over. The heat pack had a Velcro opening in the back that held a beanbag of clay beads. Taking the beanbag out, it was still warm and he deduced that it was what was making the toy warm. A few minutes later, he handed it back, making a mental note to look into getting one for himself. Riot took the toy in his lap, briefly hugging it to his chest. “I’m gonna go put him back. I’ll see you around Lieutenant.”

The duo went their separate ways, leaving Ghost to sprawl on the couch in the sun for his afternoon nap.