Rookie Training | Simon "Ghost" Riley x Fem!Reader
Authors Note: reposting here bc why not
Synopsis: Reader trains Rookies in her spare time. She needs so extra help. Simon hates training Rookies but his head over heels in love with her so he does it anyway.
Trigger Warnings: its just extremely fluffy but mud fights, drinking, smoking and pet names, yeah that it
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Word count: 3.4k
Type: tooth rotting fluff
Rookie training, Simon hated it more than anything. He avoided it at every possible cost, luckily for him, he was in a position were it wasn't mandatory to partake in helping out in his free time. Most of 141 hated it but there was something about staring at 18 - 20 somethings in the face as they shake with complete fear that he just couldn't handle.
Sure, he was a fresh recruit at one point but watching clumsy teenagers try and shoot a gun while missing the target time after time made him want to pull his hair out.
He had know idea how you did it.
After coming back from some of the most exhausting and life threatening missions anyone could experience, instead of heading to the pub for a drink or taking time off to see family you got changed and headed down to the training ground were you spent hours upon hours teaching kids how to be some of the best soldiers the military has ever seen.
His read the papers and seen the statistics. He has to sign off on them pretty regularly. You have a very, very high success rate compared to some of the others.
His seen you out there on the grounds. His stopped and watched more than he would like to admit, but you definitely had a gift for it. Its funny because all the other Sargents constantly boast about how strict and harsh they are with their new recruits, how there is no place for error or mistake and if they do happen to slip up, punishment wasn't light.
You’ve told him time and time again that you don’t believe that the most effective way to train the newbies is yelling and making them drop and do 20 when they make a mistake, rather to leave room for discussions or questions and create a space that’s fun and friendly but also professional when it needs to be. He agrees with that quietly, he just doesn't have the patience.
It’s been a long week. Simon loves his job, truly, he does, but the amount of paperwork that comes across his desk is overwhelming at times. When he comes back from a mission his hand is shaken by Shepherd and a stack of paper work is pushed into his chest.
Like every night his sat in his office, door closed and awards covering every inch of the wall. Cigarette in his hand and a Bourbon right next to him while he fishes his way through yet another report.
His so focused he misses the light knock on the door. Once he comes too, he frowns his eyebrows. It is a known rule that nobody goes to Ghosts office and now some dickhead has interrupted him and completely fucked his focus, his going to have to start reading the report again.
“Yes” he says as he leans back in his big office chair. His pissed and whoever has the nerve to interrupt him is about to get an absolute mouthful.
The door slowly opens and you quickly step into the room while closing it behind with a gentle click.
His face softens the second he realises who it is. His the busiest man in the world but he will always have time for you.
His not proud of his school boy crush on you. Quite the opposite actually, his completely ashamed of it. Simon has never really had feelings for anyone. Sure, his thought girls were pretty and had his fair share of one night stands, but actually getting to know somebody enough to have butterflies in his stomach when they smile at him? Never before.
It’s confronting and uncomfortable for him. He feels like his at a school dance and he doesn’t know were to put his hands so he just awkwardly puts them on your hips while rocking side to side. He hates it, maybe even more than training the rookies if that’s possible.
“Hey Si” he melts with that short sentence alone. “Si”. It takes him back to being a young boy. His mother gently shaking him awake for school. He will never get sick of you calling him that.
“Hey” It comes out almost gentle. A total contrast to his previous words. All he can do is look at you. How did you get more beautiful everyday? It will forever be a mystery to him.
Your hiding something behind your back. It makes him nervous, he doesn’t like surprises.
“I got you something!” You flash him the sweetest smile and take the item from behind your back. A bottle of Bourbon, his favourite Bourbon.
“What’s all this about then?” Simon leans forward and ever so gently takes the bottle from you. His large fingers brushes your smaller ones and he almost flatlines for a second. This is becoming a real problem for him.
“Well, I have a favour to have to ask” your trying to hide your smile. You look every pleased with yourself.
“Are you trying to bribe me with gifts Sergeant?” His smiling under his balaclava now. You just did something to him. Colours got a little brighter, music sound a little better, life was just a little easier when you came around and now your standing in his office looking as cute as a button with a smile spread so far across your face it was bound to reach your ears any moment now. He would do anything you wanted of him.
“Maybe, I’ve got a feeling your not going to like it though” He already had a hunch as to what your going to ask. He heard Soap talking about some drill your rookies were preparing to do. It involved two trainers on quad bikes basically chasing after these poor kids. The drill sucked. He remembered doing it. It’s all about stealth and fast thinking.
There’s a heavy jungle type area about an hours drive away. Its owned by the military and used regularly but it's an absolute mud pit. These kids are going to be running around a swamp trying to hide from a Sargent and Lieutenant on quad bikes with pellet guns. The aim is to train soldiers to adapt to the terrain around them as well as keeping themselves alive with no weapons or backup. Guess he will see how good you teaching skills were after all.
“Try me” He leans forward placing his elbows on the table levelling himself to your hight.
You lean on his desk as well getting closer to Ghosts face.
“I’ve got a drill tomorrow I need some extra help with” the two of you are so close together there is only the need for a whisper.
“So your asking me to be that help, yes?” He smirks when he says that. You can see it in his eyes.
“I guess I am, yes” There’s a pause, he breaks eye contact to act as if he was thinking about it.
“And what exactly do you need my help with?” He knows exactly what you need. He just wants to sit in this moment a little longer. Your 3 inches away from each other and your looking at him like he hung the stars in the sky.
“You and me on the quads, we’ll chase around the rookies for a couple hours then call it a day, What you think? You need some target practice anyway” The last bit made him laugh. His one of the best shots out there, you’ve told him so, yet somehow you’ll never give up the chance to take a sneaky jab at him. It’s one of his favourite things about you.
“I don’t know. You’ll owe me one” That’s a lie. You don’t owe him anything. Your presence is enough. More than enough. Simon never lies. It’s the truth or nothing but here he is lent over his desk telling fibs at the cost of your giggles.
Another string of giggles leave your lips as you stand up and do a little twirl before you reach the door.
“I’ll see you tomorrow Simon, goodnight”
Before he could even acknowledge your departure, your gone. He stayed him his position for a moment. His tummy was full of excitement for tomorrow's affairs. He was spending the whole day with you while riding around “shooting” rookies. Can he ask for much more?
Ghost was restless. He always was but more so then usual. His alarm went off and he flew out of bed, getting ready in record time and making his way down to the car that was taking everyone to the reserve.
There you were all dolled up and ready to go. Your rookies standing in a line waiting for his arrival. He stood beside you and your shot him a smile that said “good morning”
You were keeping it professional, he loved seeing you all professional and focused. It did things to him, made him think things that maybe he shouldn't be thinking.
“Right boys! You know the drill. You’ve been training hard but we all know that training isn’t enough. You need to be able to think and act fast when your on the field with real enemies and in real danger. This drill will test that theory.” You look up at Simon before you continue.
“This is both my teammate and very good friend Lieutenant Ghost. He is Lieutenant to you.” He saw the newbies gulp at the sight of him. He knew when he is in full tactical gear his intimidating, even more so to the kids standing in front of him.
“Alright. Any questions?” There’s a taller kid a couple soldiers down from him. His got a smirk on his face. He could tell he was a piece of work just by the look of him.
“Yeah Serge, I got a question” The same kid pipes up while looking directly at him
“Are all the stories true L.T? Did you actually take 9 enemy soldiers with just a knife?” Simon panics. It sounds stupid but he truly can’t communicate with people he doesn’t know, but like the angel you are, you read his mind.
“It was 10 Jimmy, now get your head in the game because his coming for you first” The kid visibly shakes at that. It makes Simon smile.
Once everyone arrived the both of unloaded the quads and loaded your guns with pallets, adding ammunition to the back.
“You ready” you ask as Simon double checks his quad. Your looking directly at his hands while you talk. He catches that.
“Yeah” his glad that he has his mask on because his entire face is red. Everything you do makes him flustered.
“Lets go then L.T” you say as you jump on the bike and speed off.
“Okay, boys! Fifteen minutes. That’s how long you have to get your shit together and plan how your gonna survive this, alright?” There was an anticipation in the air, that feeling you get before the whistle blows on a track race.
“Your time starts- ” All the rookies are on their toes ready to burst into the wooded area.
“Now” Simon watches these poor kids jump over grass that has grown taller than they are, into a treed area that will swallow them with mud. He laughs to himself as he follows you back to the quad bikes. This was going to be fun.
The time passed quickly. He could sit and listen to you talk forever. You were giving him the low down on the newbies and who you thought would come out on top. He wanted to take Jimmy down first, not because he didn't like the kid, he was just a pain in the ass. Jimmy was a good soldier, above average actually. You had high hopes for him, he looked promising.
He had a mouth on him, constantly hitting on you and shamelessly trying to woo you with stupid pickup lines he obviously learnt from his old man. It annoyed him, made him angry even. Jimmy was going down, no exceptions.
Ghost was planning on going easy, not too much, but enough so that the kids would have a chance to run around and tire themselves out for a while, as the two of you rode your way into the jungle you yelled out to him.
“Aye! L.T! Most kills shouts drinks!”
“Hope you got a big wallet kid”
It was game on. Jimmy was the first to go via Ghost of course. He did a good job, just not good enough.
Two hours in and there is one slippery rookie left. He just needs this one kill to win. He spots him hiding in a bush. His hidden well, the only thing that’s given him away was his heavy breathing. Bushes don’t breath.
Your up on the hill looking over the forest. Your rookies are good. Really good. Ghost has had to work for his pay check today, that’s for sure. They're all like little versions of you. Quick, smart and determined. They almost caught him by surprise.
He takes one last glance at you before he quickly takes a shot hitting the last recruit. Game over.
You look over were the sound came from and make eye contact with Ghost. He looks at you right back
“Drinks on you is it then Sergeant Y/L/N?” His voice bounces off the rocks and trees. He sounds amused with himself. You could hear his smile through his voice.
“You have to beat me back first L.T!” You speed off down the mountain and past Simon.
“That wasn’t part of the deal” he yells at you while jumping back on his quad and following close behind.
You reach the open reserve were your muddy rookies stand in a line looking completely defeated. Simon follows behind you as you sped past the bunch. You come to a stop but Simon goes right past you turning right back around and spraying mud all over you.
“SIMON!” You screech as loud as you can, the rookies are completely forgotten now, the fact they were all watching the scene unfold in front of them was unnecessary to the both of you.
Simon lets out the biggest, most chesty laugh he thinks he has ever managed to release. Your covered head to toe in the most disgusting, browny-green mud that smells like shit.
The way you are stood there with your mouth open like a fish while a piece of mud drops from the end of your nose onto your tongue sends him over the edge. He collapses onto his knees placing his hands in front of him to catch himself. Never in his life has he not been able to stop laughing. His grabbing his stomach while his out of breath. All that is left is his wheezes.
He can hear you laughing too, it was getting closer and closer to him. He looks up and sees you approaching him with your hands behind your back. His confused for a second before it clicks. He stands up and starts running away from you.
You piff a mud ball right at his chest perfectly as it splatters all over his torso. The two of you were running around laughing your arses off while flying mud cakes at each others heads.
The rookies just stood and watched. “Ghost” the man who has killed more people than he cared to remember is now running around in a mud pit with there training Sergeant getting mud thrown at him and laughing like a child.
The two of you were puffed out, in a final attempt of winning this impossible fight you stand up with a handful of mud but before you could even take a step Simon made it to your first. He picked you up bridle style as you swung you around. The both of you were still laughing as he brought you back to the truck.
He singled with his eyes to the rookies to get in the back and to get ready to leave. They all obliged without question.
You and Simon walked back into base together, dry mud clung to ever part of your bodies and you got side eyes from every passing person.
Simon always walked you back to your room, It was a routine at this point, it would feel weird not to.
Once you arrived to your door your turned around and looked up at him.
“Thanks for your help today Si, I really appreciate it” he still had his mask on but you memorised were his lips were. You wished he would just hurry up and kiss you. The fact he was muddy didn't matter, you were just tried of waiting.
“I enjoyed it. You got some good kids there, there still a pain in the arse though”
You giggled at his antics, he enjoyed himself, you know he did.
“Are you planning on going out tonight? I owe you remember”
It was now or never. He needed to man up and ask you out already. The only thing that was holding him back was the idea of completely distorting the years of friendship the two of you had. He was comfortable standing back while his school boy crush sat on his shoulder. It hurt his heart knowing that one day you would meet another man. You would kiss him with your perfect lips, hold him chest to chest right next to your lovely heart, love him with the whole of your being. He would be invited to the wedding were he would sit and watch you fully commit to someone who is not him. What about when you conceive your first child? You would announce your maternity leave with a smile on your face as you were about to start a life, start a family with a man that was not himself.
He needed to act fast. He noticed how one of your fellow training Sergeants had been getting a little too friendly with you for his liking and the image of you clinging to his arm made him want to puke.
He would lose you either way, as a friend if you rejected him or as a lover if he never took a chance.
He made his decision. He knew what he needed to do.
“Actually, sweetheart. I need to use that favour you owe me” It comes out fast. You make eye contact with him again and smile.
“Of course Si, what can I help with?” Your looking at him with your beautiful big eyes ready to do whatever he asked of you. He has to ask. His got no choice now.
Your confused for a second, that’s not a favour. You love going out with Simon.
“Simon of course I’ll come out with you I’m shouting you drinks -”
“Come out with me to a restaurant, or a cafe or a bar, I don’t really care. Just… just let me take you out.”
There’s a long pause after that comes out of his mouth. Your not saying anything. Shit. Your not saying anything. He wishes right there he could just melt into the ground and never return. Simon didn't care what other people thought but Jesus Christ does he care what you think of him. You probably think his some perv who’s had this massive crush on you for ages and every time you hugged him or kissed his cheek or play fought with him, he was getting off on it.
It leaves your lips so softly he could almost cry.
Something changes in your eyes once he confirms your query. Relief. It’s like the whole world had taken itself off your shoulders.
“I would really love that Simon”
You lean up onto your tippy toes and place a kiss on Simons muddy skull mask.
“Go take a shower, we can go out for dinner after”
You make your way into the room and pop your head out of the crack of the door.
“I’ll see you soon” you whisper as you slowly close the door.
“Bye Simon” the door closes and his left alone in the corridor. He waits a couple seconds and the pumps his fist ever so slightly
“Yes” he whispers to himself.
You make him feel like a teenager who just asked out his high school crush. His never felt better.
“YES” he whispers to himself a little louder.
He turns around and starts making his way towards his room, if only you could see the smile on his face.
Maybe training rookies isn’t so bad after all.
