Idk how to title stuff :p

COD fanfic, AU where Simon (Ghost) Riley is a young teen and is saved instead of staying with his abusive father. SFW, Obvious. OC interactions. (if you don't like that I understand but please don't leave hateful comments.) Mostly fluff. If I got anything wrong(lore wise or otherwise) please let me know. I am not above ignoring mistakes and not fixing them. (Also this is based of a roleplay I did.) anyways please enjoy my first chapter. 

Crow, Or Colonel Katherine Rubel had finished another successful mission, on the way back she, and a few of her soldiers, found a 13 year old boy named Simon Riley, he looked traumatized.

When he talked, he would give short, cold responses and he always flinched. It seemed like he was a victim of abuse.

Despite him being a kid, he was almost as tall as she was. He had dirty blonde hair and had an athletic build. She took it upon herself to help the boy out.

Crow looked over at the boy. "What's your story son?" She asks finally, not giving him a direct question but letting him choose what to say or not. Her long crimson hair braided out of the way, she had a very no nonsense kind of personality but there was definitely a soft side. The boy looked at her for a moment, unsure how to respond. After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke up. 

"I... don't want to talk about it.." he replied softly, his tone was soft but the way he spoke clearly showed that he still didn't trust anyone at the moment.

"That's alright son. You don't have to say anything you don't want to. Just want to get to know you is all." She told him softly. She wasn't going to force him to do anything he didn't want to, she wanted him to be comfortable around her. Crow gave him a soft sympathetic smile. The boy seemed to take a moment to process what she said before responding with another short answer.

"I'm Simon, how about you?" he asked. He didn't make eye contact but his tone and body language seemed a bit more neutral than before as he slowly began to trust her.

She nodded as he told her his name. "Crow, it's good to meet you Simon. You seem like a strong boy." She stayed calm and aloof as she drove. He gave her a slight, awkward smile and replied with an equally short answer. "Thank you."

After a few seconds of silence, he decided to ask something that had been on his mind. "Are you armed at the moment?" he enquired in a curious tone.

"Always, never know when you need to fight. But you don't need to worry about that son." She answered, glad that he was at least asking questions, slowly opening up. He let out a slight breath of relief. "But you won't use your weapons against me right?" he said, asking for reassurance. 

He had been abused previously and it was clear that it had left its mark on him. It seemed like he was terrified that anyone might turn against him and hurt him.

Her forest green eyes glance over at him. "It would be a war crime to use my weapons against a civilian son." Crow reassured him, she wouldn't want to hurt him anyway. That would be counterproductive.  His body language relaxed at her response. He hadn't been expecting her to give him such a straightforward answer but it definitely seemed to make him feel more at ease.

"And you promise you won't let anyone on your team hurt me either?" he asked again, making sure that she wouldn't betray his trust.

"They'll be in a hell full of trouble if they do. I don't take too kindly to soldiers disobeying my orders." She told him. He had no need to worry though, Crow and her team just wanted him to be safe. He gave her a small, genuine smile. "Thank you." he said in a soft, relieved tone.

There was something about her that made him trust her, despite everyone else he had met so far he felt like he could actually trust Crow to protect him. But, he still couldn't bring himself to completely relax around her.

"Can I ask you something?"

Crow nodded. "Don't be afraid to ask questions." She answered, glad he was being more talkative.  "Why are you helping me?" he asked.

Although he trusted her, given his current emotional state and trust issues it was hard for him to believe that anyone would want to help him without wanting anything in return. He was waiting for the catch - wondering what she wanted.

"That's my job. To help civilians, and to protect them." She told him. Crow knew what it was like to not trust anybody and being weary of others ulterior motives. The boy was silent for a moment, taking in what she said. "Well... thank you," he finally replied. 

It seemed like he was finally starting to understand that she genuinely wanted to protect him. His body language was becoming more relaxed, even his face had lost its usual cold, distant expression.

"What do I owe you in return for helping me though?" he asked.

Crow let out a small laugh. "You don't owe me anything son. By the way, are you hungry?" She asked him. She started to slow down the vehicle and turned off the road. Looking down at her watch. "It's a good time to stretch and eat something." He looked surprised as he was caught off guard by her sudden change of subject. "Uh, yeah, I could eat something right now actually," he replied. 

There was a slight smile on his face as he realized that he was actually starting to feel hungry, he hadn't realized how hungry he had been until now.

He was unsure exactly what to say other than that though so he just stayed silent while she drove.

"All I have are MRE's, they are filling though." She told him as she stopped the vehicle and shut off the engine. Crow got out of the driver's seat and stretched, assuming Simon would follow suit. Simon followed her out of the vehicle and stretched himself as well. "What are MRE's?" he asked curiously, not knowing what they were.

He had never heard of them before. But, being hungry already, the mention of food made his stomach growl slightly. He was just grateful that he was finally getting a chance to eat.

 She moved to the back and opened the trunk, grabbing two unassuming large brown packs, in black bold lettering read out MRE. "MRE's Meals ready-to-eat. Has enough calories to keep a soldier going." Crow told him as she handed him one. Simon took the MRE bag from her and his eyes widened as he read 'Meals ready-to-eat'. "Can we eat them right now?" he asked eagerly. He looked at her with excitement, hoping that she would say yes, he wanted to get back on the road as quickly as possible. 

The hunger pangs had begun to set in and every second felt agonizingly long now.

Crow nodded her head as she sat in the back and opened her MRE, pulling out smaller packages of proportioned foods. There was quite a bit of food. Two sides, crackers and a high protein peanut butter, and a small bar of chocolate. It also came with two different drinks, a fruity electrolyte powder drink and a tea packet. Then there was the main course in a bigger perforated bag, that could be eaten as is or heated up. Simon watched her as she inspected the contents of her MRE. He was very much looking forward to eating and couldn't help but feel his appetite growing.

"I have to ask... if there's so much food in these MRE's then why do I keep seeing soldiers complaining about them?" he said, genuinely curious to know what the fuss was about.

"After a while of eating nothing but these things they start to get bland. It's nothing like a warm home cooked meal." She explained with a chuckle. "Most make due with trading for things they do like." Simon nodded. "Yeah, I suppose it would start getting boring if you ate the same thing every day," he replied. 

Suddenly his stomach started growling loudly as if on cue and he looked embarrassed for a moment. "Do you mind if I start eating? I'm really hungry right now." he asked, hoping that she wouldn't make him wait any longer.

"Go ahead son, no need to wait, I know you are hungry." She answered with a nod. She could tell he wasn't used to such kind treatment and this made her want to take care of him. Simon didn't hesitate to start eating his MRE. As he had already told her, he was very hungry. He unwrapped the main course and began eating it as quickly as he could without choking himself.

As he ate, he started feeling his strength return. He had gone a while without eating and it had taken a toll on him. 

After a while, he began slowing down as he noticed that he was starting to get full. He was still hungry but he was no longer famished and he knew he would need to pace himself.

Crow also ate, slower than Simon of course, as she watched the sky. She casually noticed a few birds flying, most likely ravens, or crows. Simon finally finished eating and let out a loud breath of relief. He hadn't realized just how hungry he was until now. He had finished his MRE in record time but he was at least full now. 

Once he had calmed down from his ravenous appetite, he noticed the birds that she was looking at. He had noticed them too at first, but he hadn't thought they were anything special.

"They're just birds right?" he asked her.

"To some, yes, they are just birds. But for others they are omens or signs of good luck." She told him. Crow looked over at him and gave a small smile. "What do you think?" Simon looked back at the birds, observing them carefully. They seemed harmless to him, he didn't really understand what she meant by 'omens or signs of good luck'.

"I think they're just birds, nothing more, nothing less," he replied. "I mean, they don't look threatening or anything... what makes people think they hold such profound meaning?" he asked.

She gave a shrug as she looked back at the birds, they were circling which meant they had found a dead animal. "Crows and ravens are smart birds, they can remember faces and even know how to use tools." Crow took a bite of her crackers, "In history when someone died crows and ravens were always around so they were labeled as omens, if you saw a crow it meant death was near." Simon's eyes lit up with interest as she explained the historical connection between crows and ravens with death.

"But that's just a myth... right?" he asked, hoping she would confirm that it was all just superstition. 

The thought of crows being able to sense when someone was about to die made him feel uneasy. The idea of it being a possibility was unsettling.

"Maybe, but for me I see them as a sign of good luck, though I'm a silly ol' bird myself." She chuckles making a joke about her name. Simon smiled slightly at her joke. She didn't seem to take herself too seriously and it made her feel much more approachable. 

His mind wandered to her name though, it certainly was unique. "If you don't mind me asking... why did your parents name you Crow?" he asked.

This made Crow laugh. "Crow isn't my real name son, it was a name given to me on my first mission as a soldier. My real name is Katherine." She explained. Simon looked surprised at her revelation. "Really? Why would they give you a completely different name? Wouldn't it get confusing if they called you by two different names? Or is that normal for soldiers?" he asked, unsure if changing your name was just something that happened or if there was an actual reason behind it. "It's for safety, call signs are used so you don't have to use your real name out on the battlefield. Usually it means something or because of something you did." She told him, it was a bit more complicated than that but it was the basic gist of it. Simon nodded his head as he took in the information. He wondered what she had done to be given the nickname of 'Crow' though.

"So, what did you do to earn the name 'Crow' then?" he asked, hoping that he wasn't being too intrusive but also wanting to get to know her better.

Crow gives a small embarrassed look. "I was given the call sign Crow because on my first mission I noticed the shiny hull of a landmine and promptly picked it up without a second thought. It scared the ever-loving hell out of the other soldiers but because I was the only one who noticed it I saved my whole team." She let out a small sigh. "After that my teammates wouldn't stop calling me Crow." Simon was completely shocked when he heard her explanation. He couldn't believe that she had picked a live landmine up without thinking about it.

"Wow... that was really courageous of you," he said. He felt bad for her at that moment as he could see the embarrassment on her face and realized that this was probably something she didn't like talking about. 

He felt his respect for her grow as he could see that she wasn't just a skilled soldier but also a brave one too.

"It wasn't, I could have easily blown up if I handled that thing wrong. I didn't even know it was  a mine until someone told me." She told him with a serious tone before going back to a more casual tone. "My little habit of picking up shiny stuff never left either so I guess that's another reason why Crow just stuck with me. "Simon was amused by the fact that she still liked picking up shiny things, it was funny to realize that people didn't really change all that much.

"Have you ever found any interesting or rare things while you were out on missions?" he asked.

He was always curious about what kind of things you'd find on the battlefield.

Crow moves and digs though a pocket in her cargo pants. producing two things, a empty bullet shell and a odd charm bracelet of sorts. She hands him the brassy bullet shell. "Here."  She looks at the charms that were odd bits and ends. "Each one is from a mission I was on, It like how some collect sand or dirt." She explained. Simon looked over at the bullet shell and the charm bracelet. He hadn't expected her to give him anything like that. He was grateful for the interesting items though.

"So, these are all things you've collected?" he asked, admiring each of the charms. They were an odd assortment of things but Simon liked that about them. They definitely showed an interesting insight into what types of battles she had been in.

"The ones I was allowed to keep anyway." She chuckled softly. Crow had finished her MRE at this point and they were just sitting and talking. She was glad to see Simon out of his shell and actually talking with her, she could tell he was a good kid. Simon finished his MRE as well and his mind began to wander to her comment about the charms. It made him curious how she was 'allowed to keep' some of them but not all of them. 

"What do you mean by that? Were you not allowed to keep some of the charms?" he asked.

She stood up and started cleaning the mess from the MREs. "Well some are just dangerous or radioactive. Or just too big to be reasonably held onto." Crow gives a shrug. "Sometimes I think my higher ups just don't like that I bring random crap back." The crimson haired colonel smirked softly as she said that, because she was a higher up now. Simon laughed at her comment about higher ups. "They don't understand the importance of 'souvenirs' I guess." he said with a hint of humor in his voice. Maybe he just liked the thought of someone running around on the battlefield, picking up random trinkets and bits and pieces to add to their collection. 

As she finished cleaning up the mess, he finally decided to ask the question he had already begun brainstorming earlier: "Do you mind if I ask you something a bit more personal?"

"I don't mind at all, son." She told him as she finished up clearing away the trash. Simon took a deep breath before he asked the question he had been thinking of since they began talking. "Why did you join the army?" He hoped that she wouldn't think he was being too rude or too invasive by asking because he realized that her answer could be private; but he also hoped that she wouldn't mind answering. Crow stopped for a second, like she was thinking about how to answer. "Well... I guess I didn't think much about it when I joined but, it felt like I had no other choice. I didn't have the best childhood, I was in the system and when I turned 18 it was to be out on the streets or go be a soldier." She told him, her voice soft and a bit melancholy. "I became a soldier so I didn't have to face homelessness."  Simon looked at her as she finished answering and he felt his heart break for her. The image of a small orphaned girl being left alone on the streets without anywhere to go made his heart hurt. He couldn't imagine what it would have been like for her growing up without a family or friends. 

"I'm sorry... I didn't realize... I shouldn't have asked-" he began to apologize, feeling bad for asking such a personal question.

"It's alright son, I know you meant no ill will. I'm telling you because I know you understand." Crow smiled at him, it was kind and warm. She was like him, an unloved kid but she made something for herself and now she was going to help him in the way she was never helped. "Let's get back on the road son, we're burning daylight. "Simon sighed softly. 'Unloved' was the perfect way to describe how he had felt too. He was an orphan just like she had been and he had never had a family. Now that they were both older, they had something in common with one another even if it was a heartbreaking common link.

He nodded in response to her suggestion and stood up in accordance. "Yeah, you're right. We should get going now."