Happy 42nd Birthday To BARRY SLOANE

CRUMB MY BELOVED

I love him 🖤

Choices have consequences

Alejandro Vargas x reader (GN)

Warning: light angst, culinary crimes, talk about past food insecurity.

Summary: There is an unwritten rule that you assumed Alejandro would have learned by now, after three years of committed relationship: don't anger the cook. You were wrong.

On AO3

A/N: I'm like, five vodka cocktails in. If there are any mistakes I'll fix them when I'm sober. Also I got inspired by @ragingbookdragon 's badass reader because I just know Alejandro is. So. Whipped.

When you had decided to move in together, an arrangement was made: all household chores would be shared when he was present, but you would be in charge of meal planning and cooking.

It was a convenient set-up for the two of you; you wouldn't be burdened with all the chores when he was off-duty, and would only look after your own load of housekeeping when you were by yourself. Besides, Alejandro was by no means an incapable man when cooking, you were just better than him in that regard - by a lightyear.

To you, cooking wasn't just a means to an end - it was an act of service, a declaration of love. And to date a passionate man as Alejandro, you showed the same passion for your culinary art.

The kitchen was your realm, and you were the regent. No matter whoever was going to be the recipient of your hard work, you always chose the finest ingredients. You loved to experiment with flavours and aromas. You had transformed an unused closet at the far end of your kitchen into a walk-in pantry - your spices occupied nearly an entire wall in there.

You put your heart and soul into every dish, it didn't matter if it was for Alejandro and you, a house full of guests, or just yourself. Those close to the both of you knew that a dinner invitation to your house meant a culinary experience that could rival that of a Michelin star restaurant.

And you were damn proud of yourself for that. You nurtured yourself on the faces of your guests when their head tilted slightly backwards, their eyes closed, and a soft moan escaped them as soon as they tried your meals. Alejandro himself had more than once interrupted himself from eating to cup your face in his hands and kiss you to thank you for your efforts.

Which is why the very words that came out of his mouth hit you like a train dead on.

Granted, he didn't say them to you directly, you overheard him on accident the previous day while he was talking on the phone. You didn't mean to eavesdrop, but he wasn't being secretive either. He was sitting in the living room, and the conversation was quite light-hearted, so you assumed that the topic was nothing related to his work. You still kept quiet, sneaking behind him to grab a book you had meant to start reading for a while.

The conversation had shifted to meals, somehow, and it caught your attention immediately when he mentioned some of the meals you often made. It never failed to warm your heart when he gushed about your culinary skills.

"...I mean, I appreciate the effort because it's such a hassle to cook and they do it all from scratch, but a few times it felt like I was eating rations in the field."

...What?

He couldn't be talking about your food, right?

...Right?

He ended his sentence with a chuckle, and you just stood there, fingers grasping the spine of the book. Your eyes were fixed on the shelf as his conversation moved on, his voice fading from your perception.

There was a weight on your chest that expanded to the bottom of your stomach and to the middle of your head, settling right behind your eyes. Knowing what was to come, you left the book in its place and walked back to the room you'd come from, just as quietly as you'd arrived.

After twenty minutes or so, you emerged from your hiding place, face freshly washed and - hopefully - no traces of the little angst marathon you went through. Alejandro still sat in the living room, this time he was watching a rerun of some fútbol match, completely unaware of the beast he had unknowingly set loose.

You walked straight to the kitchen with a newfound determination, a mission if you will. After gulping two cups of water to rehydrate yourself - and a quick prayer to your late abuela for forgiveness for the crime you were about to commit - you put your hands to work. You usually took about two hours to cook, but you were sure that you would be over much quicker than that.

You carefully washed, sliced, and prepared the main ingredients, making sure that the meal would have everything necessary to look absolutely normal. You were akin to an explosives expert assembling a bomb, every step carefully calculated to achieve your goal.

The light scent of that escaped from the pot caught Alejandro's attention, and he robotically moved to set the table. You stole a glance at him, finding him eager and looking forward to dinner with a tiny grin on his face.

Estúpido mimado.

A few more minutes passed and the rice stew was ready. You looked at it, quite bland and lacking some colour, and knowing exactly how it would taste. Memories from a time long past flashed in your mind and you forced yourself to shoo them away. Carefully, you brought the pot to the table and filled two plates - Alejandro's, like always, had a extra spoonful.

You both sat down and started eating. You kept your eyes on your plate as you heard him chomp down eagerly, then quietly slow down until pulling to a stop. You tried your best not to break into a devilish smirk as he finally spoke to you.

"... Mi amor?" He sounded confused, if not a bit concerned, "the food tastes... Uh... Different than usual."

"...Yeah?," You quipped, knowing exactly what was wrong with the food, it wasn't just bland. It was sick dog level of blandness. No spices at all, no herbs, not even salt. "I tried a new recipe today."

"Uh, okay?," He frowned a bit, slowly pushing the food around with his plate, wondering how to tell you that he didn't like it one bit, "it just... It has no spices...?"

You can't contain your smirk this time, it felt like getting away with a crime. It was a criminal masterpiece.

"Pues claro, mi amor," your voice was sweet, but the mirth in your tone couldn't be hidden, and ran a shiver down his spine, "I wanted to emulate the flavour of the rations you seem to love so much."

Alejandro blinked once, twice, and felt his blood run cold. Had you heard him?

"Mi amor-" he began, but you interrupted him, pointing your spoon to his face.

"Escúchame bien Alejandro Vargas," you scolded him and he gulped and shut his mouth, sitting straight in his chair, "this kind of food would've been a banquet for me growing up. The sort of food I so lovingly dedicate myself to prepare everyday is the result of my dreams and desires from when I was a kid, and you disrespected that by acting como un estúpido mimado."

"Pero claro," you pitch raised and Alejandro had flashbacks of his own mamá whenever he got a scolding, "el señor put my meals at the same level of the rations he gets from the army, which I know how they taste like and don't you forget that," you accentuated every syllable with the spoon, which was still pointed at his face. Alejandro gulped as he watched you, and you continued on, "so I decided that you will eat this meal - all of it - and be thankful for every meal you receive from today on, mine or the army's, because making fun of the meals I so lovingly make for you is the same as making fun of me as a kid who got this only when there was something to celebrate. Entendido?"

"...Si, mi vida," Alejandro stated with a nod, feeling like a little kid under your harsh glare, "cada palabra."

"Good," you nodded, and carried on with eating your own meal, "que sea la última vez."

Alejandro took a few seconds to carry on with his meal, making a mental note to bring you a bouquet of flowers in the morning with your breakfast.

More young!reader and 141 maybeeee? I feel like I just need more headcanons and drabbles

Also maybe like, 141 reacting to reader randomly dropping information like "well, my mum's an alcoholic and she used to beat me"

And this is me speaking from experience cause I do that and like 🥲

✎ i think i got this request like almost a month ago now i am. so sorry lmao but i'm actually getting to it and that's what counts right? right. i pumped this out in like 2 hours which if you knew how i write you would be very impressed 😎

✎ tags: young!reader, military!reader, not proofread im too cool for that, just general fluff like one mention of simon being angsty about u dying ig?

♡ so soap and the reader are definitely really good friends. i don't really think he's like super "mushy"? i guess? like some people make him out to be (not that there's anything wrong with that i love that trope) because like, look at him. i love him but some of the stuff he says in the games is like super fucking #militaryman if that makes sense lmao

♡ you're friends in a sibling kind of way. you make fun of each other all of the time and play pranks with (and on) each other. he goes rough on you when you're sparring but always makes sure you're okay afterwards. a lot of the time he talks to you like you're a little kid in an annoying tone just to piss you off.

♡ simon definitely didn't really want to like you at first, partly because he didn't want to get close to you in case you died or got seriously injured or captured or whatever else could possibly happen. but you literally weaseled your way in as his friend.

♡ after a few weeks of being with the team, you picked up on their likes and dislikes. in particular, you learned which foods simon liked at the cafeteria, you learned what kind of books he read, etc. etc. and so ensued you doing nice things for him.

♡ you would grab him the protein bar he liked from the vending machine when you went to grab yourself or someone else something. if you went somewhere with cheap books, you would grab him one that was similar to what you saw him reading last. you always made it a point to get him cheap things so you could refuse if he tried to pay you back.

♡ most of the time, though, he would say he didn't want it when you handed it to him. you would just shrug and tell him to give it to someone else (you see him with whatever you got him not long after). other times, you'll just sit down next to him and talk to him out of nowhere. towards the beginning, it was more of you talking at him, but that was okay with you. it took longer than the others, but you wormed your way into his cold heart.

♡ price is your new father. he gives you advice on literally everything, whether or not you ask for it (you almost never do). he does the dad thing of the hands on the hips and legs kinda spread while he explains the topic in depth. he has a very vast wealth of knowledge, you come to learn.

♡ i feel like one time you would comment on price's outfit, saying it looked good and matched well one day and he would kind of take it to heart. from then on he'll occasionally ask you how his outfit is that day. he'll play it off as if he's joking, but deep down he's actually curious. you always make fun of him for the hat that's seemingly glued to his head, though.

♡ gaz fully leans into becoming your older brother. he doesn't deny it, he just laughs when someone says anything. also i feel like he'll literally do anything you want to do. he'll go shopping with you, he'll go to bookstores or antique stores or crystal places, literally anywhere. it's gotten to the point where you just tell him to go with you and he just grabs his coat.

♡ he also will play any video game with you and he always beats you at it. it literally does not matter if he's never even heard of this random game you just pulled out of some alternate dimension, he'll be better than you at it. he's also absolutely clueless about his natural talent; if you ask him what the hell he's doing right, he's just like "huh? 🤨🤨"

♡ yeah in regards to randomly dropping trauma like it's nothing, it's definitely a smack in the face to all of them. they talk about the time they almost died in a firefight or when they got shot several times over, but they don't talk about the "deep" stuff.

♡ so it's like, you say some shit like "yeah my [super close person] died when i was really young that was #rough lol" and they all just slowly turn their heads to you like "what the actual fuck did you just say" and you're just like "what's going on why did we stop talking 🧐"

♡ they either move on to a new conversation after several long moments of silence or you just don't notice and continue talking like you didn't just give them mental whiplash.

♡ also so like i'm the type of person that loves clutter and just wants to decorate the hell out of my apartment n shit right? so like if you're also that kind of person and you just amass all this stuff in your room and put in shelves and lamps and posters and pictures covering every wall (even though it's probably against some military code or rules or whatever) and they got a peek they're just like "what the fuck"

♡ every time price sees it he tells you to clean it up but it's half-hearted at best. you tell him he's just jealous of all of your cool stuff, and he secretly is (if you're a mini-fridge kind of person he would definitely want to steal it from you).

♡ if you don't really decorate your room that much or just don't have a lot of stuff, they all get you little things to clutter up your space with. kyle and you come up with a system of buying each other a gift whenever you go shopping together, and he's good at remembering what you like.

♡ i think simon likes carving wood in his spare time, and you'll see him doing this and say that's really cool and good, and he's always just like "ya want it?" and tosses it at you. you don't bother asking if he's sure he wants to give it to you because he already pulled out another block of wood to carve into.

♡ they all also will fight literally anyone for you once you all get closer. you're probably one of, if not the youngest person working in the entire compound and they know how people talk, and if they hear anyone saying anything bad about you for any reason they shut that shit down immediately. you are good, in every aspect, and they all will let everyone know that.

Wesker (again)

Had to redo this because good lord it was hideous but now I think it’s starting to look better.

hes everywhere

A fate worse than death, part two

Summary:The rest of the time find out what happen to you and the others

Type:Scenario: 141 + Los Vaqueros X M!Reader

Version:Mw2

~

Gaz was trying to get it out of Price about what happened while Soap was helping Rudy get Alejandro to the medic and Ghost was sitting in his room thinking. And you were no where to be seen.

"Come on cap, tell me what happened"

Gaz and Price were headed towards the Kitchen, and Price was getting alittle annoyed with Gaz.

"No Gaz"

Gaz didn't know what happened so he didn't know how it still affected Price in ways he's never been affected before. When they reached the kitchen there were two newer recruits talking, they have been in the military before and actually worked alongside of you for quite some time but they were new to 141. When Gaz and Price sat down Gaz was just staring at him trying to get it out of him, just silently this time. But now Gaz could see how the captain was still alittle shaky from early.

"Yeah he's crazy man, one time he used his sledgehammer and bushed his way up to someone's head, hitting every spot."

One of the new recruits said. Gaz stopped looking at Price, turning his head slow enough for it to creak. Gaz was horrified with what he just heard.

"Damn, that is crazy"

The other recruit said like it was a normal thing. But then again you are named death after all.

"Wait, wait a second. Who are you talking about?"

Gaz asked still in complete shock. The recruits looked at him alittle confused.

"Death? You know y/n?"

Gaz looked at Price then back to the recruits quiet. He couldn't believe it, no. He refused to believe it. You were one of the nicest people, yeah you scared alot of the people on the team but he never seen why.

"Are...are you serious?"

The recruits nodded. Gaz was shocked, far beyond shocked. Like yeah your code name is death, but he never took it seriously. You? Brutally kill a guy? He couldn't believe it.

"Yeah, actually funny thing I heard one day that apparently he stabbed someone multiple times, and while they were still alive he shoved a smoke bomb down their throat and the smoke spewed out of the holes he made in them"

Price was still silent.

~Off to Soap~

Putting Alejandro on the bed in the medic room, Soap looked at Rudy worried.

"What happened?"

Rudy looked at Soap with a face that basically said 'I don't wanna talk about it'. Soap couldn't see what happened so he was clueless to what you did. Alejandro looked up at Soap.

"Wanna know what happened? It was death, that's what"

Alejandro stopped to cough abit. Letting out a disgusted sound.

"He was crazy, he beat the shit out of a shadow before bashing his hea in. I....I couldn't watch"

Alejandro looked down, ashamed, disturbed, disgusted. Soap chuckled abit, but by the looked of Rudy and Alejandro he knew they were serious.

"Wait? Y/n? Are you serious?"

Alejandro nodded, Rudy just looked away. Soap stood there silent, taking it all in. Before Rudy spoke.

"The captain was horrified"

~On to Ghost~

Throwing a ball up and down he thought to himself, 'what happened when the shadows head dropped?' That's all he could think about. One second the shadow had a gun pointed at someone, and the next second that someone hit the shadow in the head with the gun causing him to disappear from all the snipers view. Not that Gaz and Soap were paying attention. Ghost could see Price's horrified reaction, the look of pure shook and disgust in Rudy's face, and Alejandro start throwing up, violently. It dawned on Ghost that he could always ask you, or go back to see what you did. He'd rather ask you. Getting up Ghost went to find you. When he did he grabbed your shoulder, causing you to turn around.

"Sir, what did you do to that shadow?"

The devilish smile on your face told Ghost, it wasn't pretty.

~The story of what did, from all their perspectives~

Price looked at Gaz, and signed.

"He...The moment he had a open window he grabbed the gun, smacking the shadow in the face with it"

-

Rudy, gulped, and Alejandro glared at the ground.

"He crushed the guys cheek bone, so bad you could hear it crack all the way over by us"

-

You grabbed Ghost's hand and leaned in.

"I bashed that bastards head until be fell to the ground, he, I could alright see the blood dripping from his head.

-

Gaz listened carefully, leaning in he didn't want to miss any details.

-

Soap stayed quiet, not wanting to accidentally interrupt.

-

Ghost shivered slightly at how you spoke, it was creepy. Almost inhuman

-.

Price looked back at the table, in thought.

"Taking the gun, he didn't kill the man. No he did worse"

Gaz carefully got up, to make him and Price a cup of tea.

-

Rudy looked Soap in the eye, now stern.

"He continuously hit the guys thigns until they bleed no more"

Soap started to get nervous, just the thought of getting your thighs bashed in with a steel gun made his thigns tingle slightly.

-

You leaned back alittle seeing the discomfort in Ghost's eyes.

"He was screaming so loud, if was like music to my ears. As I watched his legs turn to mushy flesh infront of my very in eyes"

Ghost stepped back abit, now more cautious due to your creepy and low chuckling.

-

Price nervously messed with his fingers.

"He didn't stop beating his legs in until you could see the shadows nerves and veins sticking to the beaten muscle, that....ugh"

Price groaned at the thought of what you did, as Gaz listened getting uncomfortable himself from the way Price was unsettled.

-

Alejandro groaned loudly and stood up.

"He was like a senseless beast, when he turned around to look at us he bent in a way he shouldn't."

Alejandro practically yelled as Rudy nodded, Soaps full attention now on Alejandro. Soap was a tad bit uncomfortable, he's never seen Alejandro this freaked out over something. Neither has Rudy.

-

You stepped closer as Ghkst stepped backwards

"He begged begged me to not kill him, so I yanked him by the hair and asked him 'how?'"

Ghost has never felt this way around someone before, he didn't like it

-

Price looked you at Gaz seeing him making the finally touches in the tea.

"After he dropped his head, death was gonna stomp on his head, he was gonna kill him."

Gaz nodded and brought Price his tea. Recruits still standing there, listening.

-

Alejandro walked around the room to try and get the unsettling feeling out of him. As Rudy continued to inform Soap about what happened.

"He didn't get a chance to crush his head actually, the shadow stabbed the bottom of his foot causing him to jump back."

Soap thought that was the end and let out a sign of relief.

-

You grabbed Ghost by his mask and pulled him to you. Having the same devilish smirk you started with.

"He tried to get away Ghost, he tried so hard but I wouldn't let him, I stabbed him with the knife he stabbed me with."

Ghost was about to pull away but remembered, it'd be useless you'd only pull him back. He knows you get to worked up in telling a story.

-

Price nervously took a sip of tea, staring down at it as it swirled with the steam.

"He-....He used the knife to stab between his shoulder blades....before cutting his back open, all the way down to his lower back."

Gaz almost choked on his tea when he heard that. He pictured it to well, the thought made him wanna run away from this conversation.

-

Rudy looked down, legs and arms shaking slightly. Soap took notice of this.

"Y/n...he grabbed the sides of open flesh, and, oh my god... he ripped the shadow open like he was nothing."

Soap took a step back, horrified by what he heard. How, no, why? Why would you do that.

-

You pulled Ghost closer, now whispering in his ear, likely to keep this part a secret.

"I wanted to do worse Ghost, but instead I broke. Every. Fucking. Rib. He had, his screams only got louder."

Ghost eyes widen, realizing you met you had grabbed his bare ribs and snapped them all in half. Now Ghost has done some crazy things but this? It's on a while nother level.

-

Price rubbed his temples to calm himself.

"When he finished he, well killed him. With his foot"

Gaz had finished his tea by then. Still has that unsettling feeling.

-

Alejandro walked back over to Soap and grabbed his shoulder.

"Wondering how he killed a soldier with just his foot? Yeah? He stepped on him, well more like bashed."

Soap looked at Alejandros hand alittle nervous.

-

You chuckled darkly pushing yourself off of Ghost.

"I dropped my foot so hard, I still have his eye juices on my shoe"

Ghost gagged as you walked away laughing, the whole base could hear you. The ones who seen you kill that Shadow shivered remembering that laugh.

~

[A/n:I got lazy in the last part. But hear you have it. I hope you enjoyed]

THEYRE COMPLETE AHAHAHA

Alright, can someone tell me if I’m being stupid, cause I don’t know if I’m missing a point or something. So, we all know that Ghost wears a mask when he’s on deployment, but I also see a lot of people putting him in civilian settings (off base without other soldiers around / with his partner etc.) with the mask on, too.

I’m not sure if I’m genuinely just being stupid here (lmao 😭) but doesn’t that defeat the purpose of the mask? His enemies don’t know what he looks like because of the mask. Not many people wear skull balaclavas when they’re just going about their business, so it would make him stand out more.

For example, if he was going shopping with his partner, and for some reason his enemy was there, they might assume it’s him because of the balaclava, thus putting his partner in danger as a result. They’d just go ‘Oh look, it might or might not be Ghost, and who’s that with him? Hmmm they might be important, let’s kidnap them and use their existence against him! :D’

Like, if I worked with him and then when I went on leave I saw this big ass man with a skull balaclava I’d go ‘oh, look, it’s Ghost in the wild’. Like you’d just know it’s him - the mask would lose its purpose and put his family in danger instead of protecting them like it was originally designed to do.

But if I worked with him, and saw him barefaced in town, I’d have no idea it’s him because the balaclava would be gone. I wouldn’t spare him a second glance because I’d just assume it’s some random man going about his business. I’d have no idea it’s him because there’s no mask.

Not to mention the balaclava would make him look sus af in public 😭 I live in England myself and have seen security in shops tell people (mainly teenagers, if you live here you know who I mean) to take off their masks. If he refused, he’d be in deep shit for refusing to cooperate. Even if he showed his ID, it wouldn’t help cause they can’t see his face.

Anywho, idk I’m just rambling atp but I feel like him wearing the mask outside of deployment doesn’t really make sense? 😭 I might just be missing a point or something idk

Edit: Speaking of Covid masks, I feel like he’d like the times when we all wore them because atp masks most likely bring him a sense of comfort. However, the moment people stop wearing them out and about, he probably would, too.