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grizzersmamma · 1 year

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The Butterfly Effect | Simon “Ghost” Riley x F!Reader | Chapter 1

“One moment your relationship with Simon is perfect. The next, it’s gone. A single mistake is all it takes for you to return to an empty home and a world where Simon Riley is marked as deceased and only the infamous Ghost remains. Will you be able to rekindle the love that once existed in a world long gone, or will you succumb to the pain of losing your other half?”

Overview: CoD x Primeval Crossover. Reader is a member of ARC - the Anomaly Research Center - a group responsible for investigating temporal anomalies that open up all over the UK. Lovers to Strangers to Friends to Lovers.

A/N: No prior knowledge of Primeval is required, I should be able to explain it well enough as we go along.

Warnings: Fluff with angst at the end. Minor injuries.

Ghosts & Monsters: Masterlist

Next Chapter

You’re roused from your deep sleep by the sound of an alarm blaring from your phone on the bedside table. The room is lit up by the screen as the phone violently vibrates to try and get your attention. Blindly reaching out with a hand, you slap at the screen, hoping to silence it without actually lifting your head from where it’s comfortably buried into your partner’s chest.

Luckily, you’re successful in your goal and able to melt back into the embrace of the warm body under you. A displeased grumble comes from Simon, who curls his arms a little tighter around you, nosing his face into your hair. It’s only his second day back home after a lengthy deployment and you had been hoping to enjoy his presence uninterrupted for a few more days. But it seems that the universe has other ideas, choosing the middle of the night to disturb your rest.

“Need to get up,” you mumble into his chest, making no real effort to move.

A grunt is all you get in return, neither of you prepared to be the first to release their embrace. It’s comfortable being wrapped up in the strong muscles of Simon’s arms, his familiar scent luring you further from wakefulness and back toward the abyss of sleep. Going for so long with only a cold, empty bed had almost made you forget just how tempting it is to spend all day snuggled up against your favourite soldier, showering him in gentle affirmations and affectionate kisses.

Your phone buzzes again, the sound of an incoming text. It’s enough to pull your focus back to the present and the need to somehow untangle your limbs from Simon’s.

He’s far from co-operative, for every arm or leg you’re able to detach from yourself another quickly takes its place, keeping you firmly trapped. You wish you could just concede defeat and call in sick for the day, but your job is the kind where anything short of an actual crisis wouldn’t be accepted as a valid excuse. It’s for a good reason, however – the lives of both your co-workers and the public could be very easily compromised should you decide to slack off – as much as you would love to ignore the midnight summons.

“Simon,” you coo, placing a tiny peck against the tip of his nose, “I need to get up, there’s been an alert.”

His eyes crack open, squinting a little thanks to the disgruntled expression he’s wearing. It takes another kiss, this time to the side of his face, for him to finally relinquish his hold on you. Albeit with a sigh, acting as though the very action has caused him unspeakable pain.

“You don’t need to get up, I’ll probably only be a couple of hours,” you assure him, running one of your hands through his blond hair, “then, you’ll have me all to yourself again.” He seems to accept this compromise with a nod, allowing you to clamber your way off your shared bed. The first thing you do is check the location of the alert on your phone, noting that it’s only a short drive away from the apartment.

You don’t have time for a shower, but thankfully you’d had one before heading to bed earlier in the evening. Grabbing a set of work clothes, you head into the ensuite attached to your bedroom to change, not wanting to disturb Simon any further by switching on the lights. You know he hasn’t had much sleep lately, so you want to give him as much opportunity to recuperate as you can.

With your clothes changed, you exit the bathroom again, only to find that your boyfriend has vanished from the room entirely. You don’t have time to question it, instead snatching up your phone and jogging down the short hallway toward the small living room and kitchen.

The sound of the electric kettle can be heard as it bubbles away. A single light illuminates Simon as he silently moves about the space, grabbing some tea from the cupboard. At first, you assume he’s making it for himself since he has been known to stay awake and wait for you to return, but before you can try to tell him to go back to bed again, he pours the hot water into your travel mug.

By the time you’ve finished lacing up your boots Simon has walked over to your side. “Here you go, love,” he says, holding out the tea in offering, his voice much thicker due to sleep. It’s a sweet gesture, almost enough to distract you from the slight lingering guilt from waking him up at such an ungodly hour.

“Thank you,” you smile, hoping it’s enough to convey just how much you appreciate not just the tea, but him too. It’s taken a long time for this relationship to get to where it is. An immense amount of work was required from both sides, especially with how deep Simon’s insecurities and trust issues ran. It likely helped that both of your jobs are so secretive – there was an immediate understanding between the two of you that some things just couldn’t be talked about and that was okay – you never pushed one another too far, content to live in the unknown for as long as it took for the other to finally feel comfortable sharing.

You’d been introduced to him as ‘Ghost’, the terrifyingly competent special forces lieutenant who seemed to just emit an aura of danger. But now, here you were, looking up at his face, hair mussed by sleep and expression completely unguarded.

Accepting the drink from him you stand up from the chair you’d perched on to fit your shoes and softly pull his face toward you with a gentle hand to the back of his head. Placing a kiss against his cheek, you allow your lips to linger on the tiny prickles of stubble growing there. “I’ll be back soon,” you say once again, seeing the briefest flicker of uncertainty in his deep brown eyes. It’s difficult to catch, but you’ve had a lot of practice using his eyes to determine what kind of thoughts are swirling around behind them.

“I know,” Simon nods, “just make sure you come back in one piece, yeah?” Danger comes with your line of work no matter how cautious you try to be and both of you know it. But it fills you with a sense of purpose unlike anything else and, much the same way Simon can’t just abandon his job, you could never bring yourself to quit yours.

“Always,” you promise, for all the good it would do.

Although reluctant, the two of you manage to part from one another. You grab the backpack containing all your equipment and swing it over your shoulder, bringing up the location of the alert on your phone screen. A couple of brief “love you’s” are exchanged between you and Simon before you’re out the door and on your way.

You find yourself a good half hour’s drive away from the bustling city of London, pulling up outside a rather unassuming warehouse. It’s fortunate that the alert came from somewhere with ample space, since it lowered the chances of a civilian stumbling across your work by accident. There are already several other cars pulled up outside the warehouse, soldiers milling about to secure the area and unload equipment from the vehicles.

When you step out from your car you are immediately met by Captain Becker.

You’ve known the captain for several years now, ever since he was moved from running special ops missions with the military to heading up the security division of the ARC. He runs a tight ship, doing everything in his power to ensure that you and the team are kept as safe as humanly possible. Many would go as far as to say he’s emotionless, but much like your Simon, he just expresses his compassion for others in more subtle ways.

Becker works hard to protect everyone on the team, not just because it’s his job, but because he cares so deeply about everyone. He takes each loss personally, blaming himself whenever a member of the team is injured or worse.

It doesn’t take long for the area to be swept and you’re allowed to enter the warehouse. The walls and floors are decrepit, with rotten wood, falling apart in places and covered in some sort of dark mold. It stinks, but it’s certainly not the worst thing you’ve come across.

Seeing a temporal anomaly will never get old, no matter how many times you come across one. A bright, circular light, hovering just above the ground with beautiful shards of glass-like specks floating around it. The transparent shards drift in circles, orbiting the warm, orange light at the anomaly’s centre like moons around a planet. Like an explosion frozen in time, it has a distinct otherworldly aura about it that draws you in and makes you want to reach out and touch it.

Unfortunately, messing around with a crack in the very fabric of time and space is not the best idea, as much as your little magpie brain wants to touch the bright shiny thing.

One of the laboratory technicians begins to set up the anomaly locking device while you assist them in taking readings from this particular anomaly. It’s not your specialty – you’ve got degrees in animal behaviour and veterinary technology, not physics – but thankfully most of the equipment is easy enough to use with some simple instructions.

Things are running smoothly, and you’re relieved that soon enough the anomaly will be contained and you’ll be able to crawl back into bed with Simon. But, of course, that means the universe decides to throw a spanner in the works.

Something behind you hisses, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. A large reptile is perched on one of the large wooden beams overhead, gnashing its teeth at the humans gathered below. It appears to be a raptor of some kind, but you don’t have the chance to identify it any further before it launches from the roof.

It lands far too close to you for comfort, shrieking and flaring up its feathers. The soldiers around it have their weapons raised, and it seems to be enough to startle it, for it makes a dive toward the anomaly. Unfortunately, you stand directly in its path to freedom. You twist around to try and get out of the way, but the animal is moving too quickly and it slams directly into you, sending you both toppling through the anomaly.

It’s blindingly bright for several second, before your body hits hard stone. You roll several times before coming to a stop, jagged rocks stabbing into your arms and legs as you try to get back to your feet. It’s sunny where you’ve ended up, making it difficult for your eyes to adjust, but eventually you’re able to take in your surroundings.

From the warehouse you now find yourself in the middle of the woods, covered in leaves from plants that have been extinct for millions of years. Normally, you would be ecstatic to be able to see and potentially explore the world in such an alien state, but you have much more pressing matters. Matters such as the teeth of a raptor currently a mere inch or two from your face.

You spit out a panicked curse, throwing your body away from the animal as it tries to snap at your face. Both of you are disorientated after being thrown from the present and into the past, but you’re lucky enough to be the first back on your feet. There’s no way you’d be able to outrun it, but adrenaline is one powerful drug and you’re immediately breaking out into a full sprint.

You can hear it behind you, feet slamming into the dirt and hissing, growing closer by the second.

Your life is flashing before your eyes as you run, fearing that this is the end, the way you die. But suddenly, just as you feel the heat of the raptor’s breath caress the back of your neck, an explosion rings out.

Startled, you miss your next step, slipping and going down like a stack of bricks. When you look back you expect to see sharp teeth as they go to clamp around your neck, but instead, you’re met with the retreating form of your pursuer. The raptor is fleeing into the forest, abandoning your defenceless body on the ground.

Your chest is heaving, body still trying to catch up with what your eyes are seeing. You’re not dead. It was a close call, but somehow, somehow, you’re still kicking.

A bush rustles and you’re about to try and leap to your feet again, only to see the familiar face of Captain Becker. “You alright?” he asks, jogging over to you and crouching down at your side, already looking you over for any potential injuries.

Not an explosion then, a gunshot.

A deep breath leaves you as you’re filled with relief. The soldier armed with his rifle is definitely a sight for sore eyes. “Still in one piece,” you assure him, accepting the hand he offers you to pull you to your feet.

“Good,” Becker huffs, gently coaxing you back in the direction of the anomaly once he’s certain you can stand on your own two feet, “because I’m pretty sure Ghost wouldn’t appreciate me sending you back in anything less than perfect health.” He grumbles about it, but his underlying worry is clear in his tone. You certainly would not be the first person to go through an anomaly and never come back.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t mention our little expedition to him... or that the animals here aren’t exactly friendly,” you grin, moving a little faster now that you can see the vibrant glow of the anomaly that leads back home, “I think I give him a heart attack with some of the things that happen here.”

“You give me a heart attack with some of the things that happen here.”

You both reach the anomaly without further issue – hopefully the shot the captain fired was enough to scare the raptor away permanently – and you’re quickly ushered back through the light. It’s always an odd sensation to be transported from one place to somewhere completely different. The very air feels strange and moving from the light of midday into the dark of night is equally jarring.

But you are back home, in the correct time and place, much to the relief of several of your co-workers who each give a cheer.

The lab techs activate the anomaly locker, watching as the anomaly draws in on itself until it’s a condensed ball of shards, too solid for anything to move through. From now until the anomaly fades away again and closes completely, it will be safe to be around.

No more scaley visitors from the past.

“We’ll have to write up a report on this incident, so I’m afraid we’re going to need to head back to the ARC,” Becker reminds you, “might be a few hours before we can head back home again.”

You groan a tad dramatically, shoulders drooping at the thought of all the forms you will need to fill out because of tonight’s incursion. No doubt there will also be a mandatory meeting to discuss what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future.

Well, there goes your plan of crawling back into bed with Simon.

“Sure, let me just text Ghost before we leave so he knows I won’t be home for a while,” you say, pulling your phone out of your pocket.

“Ghost? Who’s that?” asks one of your teammates, Connor.

At first, you think he’s just joking and go to laugh, but his expression is nothing but sincere and that puts you on edge. “What do you mean? You know Ghost.” There’s an uncomfortable weight that settles in your gut, anxiety building by the second.

Connor knows Ghost just as well as any of your other teammates. You introduced Simon to them months ago, the first time Task Force 141 were asked to assist with containing a major creature incursion. Of course, you had only introduced him as Ghost, seeing as both of you were working at the time, but he isn’t exactly a person that’s easy to forget. Hell, your teams have even met for drinks more than once.

“Pretty sure I don’t know any ghosts,” is all Conner is able to offer, a single eyebrow raised in your direction.

You share a look with Becker, who seems to be just as confused. “Of course you know him, Connor. You told me he ‘looked like he was pulled right out of a horror game’ the first time you saw him,” Becker says, lips pulled into a deep frown.

Fear is gripping at your throat as you select Simon’s contact on your phone, pressing it to your ear and praying with every fiber of your being that you’ll get an answer. But all you get is an automated voice emotionlessly informing you that the number doesn’t exist, as if it isn’t giving you life shattering news. The second and third attempt are met with the same response.

“I-I need to go,” you choke out, turning and running.

You hear your team calling for you to stop, but the panicked thundering of your heart is spurring you on and to your car.

This can’t be happening.

Surely, going through the anomaly can’t have changed the timeline that much... right?

The drive back to your apartment feels like it takes years, especially with the new surge of adrenaline pumping through your veins. The world feels like it’s closing in on you, your only focus being to get home and find Simon. Because he has to be there. There’s no way he could be gone. It’s impossible. Impossible.

You keep that thought repeating in your mind as you park and rush up the stairs to your floor. You fumble to try and unlock the door, cursing at the keys when you struggle to get them into the lock.

When you finally get it open, you can’t be bothered closing the door behind you, stumbling into the living room. Entire pieces of furniture are missing, along with anything Simon had brought over to your apartment from his own. It feels startlingly empty, with only your own possessions on display, but you’re quick to push that aside, rushing down the hall and to your bedroom.

You near enough throw the door open, eyes trying to seek out your partner.

But the bed is empty. Only the covers on your side of the bed have been disturbed and there’s no sign of anyone else ever having been there.

You’re all alone.

#writing #call of duty modern warfare #primeval #simon ghost riley #ghost x reader #simon riley x reader #ghost x you #simon riley x you #hilary becker #masterlist will be up soon

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