Simulacrum (Simon "Ghost" Riley)

24 ~ Manchester

"What the fuck is happening right now?"

"Something's going heavily wrong, sir. Give me time to fix it, I need to figure out how,"

"Check everyone now, make sure they are okay,"

"Copy that,"

~

PAST:
Manchester, United Kingdom, 2017

With my head pressed against his chest, hearing his slow heartbeat reach my ears, I softly stroked Simon's left tattooed arm, his hairs tickling my fingers underneath.

I observed everything about it, every drawing he ever decided to put on his body while it's giving me comfort; the fact we're together, laying in bed with peace and quiet taking over us, in our apartment in downtown Manchester where he grew up.

Not that it's really peaceful and quiet anyhow. You can still hear the heavy rainstorm clattering against our windows, besides the fact you often hear a siren going off, meaning something serious is going on in the city somewhere but it isn't always like that.

Overall, the rainstorm is still giving me comfort because we're inside, together, giving each other warmth. We both like the rain so much, but not really when you'll have to work outside.

It doesn't happen that often, I'll have to be honest with you; it's the weekend right now, even if it doesn't really matter for the both of us when it comes to work, but we're lucky we both have the weekend off.

Our captain gave us the weekend off, and nothing really serious is going on right now where they desperately want us. So yes, we're both deployed into Task Force 141.

I know he likes to be in the field, more than me, to set his mind off the real troubles in the world but he definitely changed when I gave birth to our son Lorenzo.

I remember him coming out of me. Well, that sounds a bit weird but it's the most normal thing in the world eventually.

Lor was a big boy; my screams of agony were probably heard across the entire St. Mary's Hospital, all over downtown Manchester but as long as I could give a safe birth to my son.

Tears were in my eyes when I held him, when Simon held him; he thanked the nurses for their hospitality but also sent them away quick enough because he wanted to admire his son without his mask, rather doing this with no one around but me.

And that's why he rather stays at home right now, where we can be with just the three of us; it's what I love the most.

It's a big apartment. Simon makes a lot of money considering his position as well as mine, as I am not just a British SAS Operator but a licensed nurse and psychologist as well.

But it also scares Lorenzo sometimes, I just know that, because Simon and I are abroad a lot of the times, not knowing if we're going to be back because our line of work is still dangerous.

But Lorenzo knows we're strong. Simon is there to protect me often, and you definitely don't want to come across him, especially when he's wearing his skull face mask.

Because when you see that big boy with skull face mask, you're not gonna start sweatin? Well, I sometimes do, but in a good way. It doesn't make any sense, but it's exactly the other way around for me.

Simon makes me feel loved, save, and as the controlling bastard he sometimes is during sex, I love him with my whole heart, that isn't deniable anymore. I do like it rough sometimes.

"Kiss me please," I said to him softly, enjoying the silence together as Simon turned his head towards me, his eyes peering right through my soul which made me go feral immediately.