A Mess™

(for easier browsing purposes, and also my need for organization)

Like, I need a bloodymary fic where Simon’s softly murmuring along to the lyrics of a song Grace has a habit of playing over and over again and his voice is so low that Grace doesn’t process that it’s not just the song playing, and he starts singing along too. Rocky is visiting the biodome, just having a nice time in the company of his two friends, until he makes a comment that both of them have nice voices

Clark is significantly faster than the Hail Mary, and Rocky’s ship, so delivering the taumoeba to Erid and Earth would go a looooot faster. Also, there would be no need for Grace and Rocky to have risked themselves and the Hail Mary when trying to get samples from Adrian

Clark on his own would not be able to solve the astrophage problem, especially since he doesn’t have the scientific background, but his speed and indestructibility would be a huge asset in assisting Grace and Rocky

Edit: WAIT, IM STUPID. I JUST REREAD MY OWN POST

Simon peeks at him, watching w the slightest bit of awe as Grace hums under his breath and cleans. How carefree. Simon can’t even begin to understand how Grace can be so…easy going. Multiple near death experiences and yet he still walks around w such ease. Simon frowns.

“You’re crazy.”

“Hmm?” Grace pauses to look at Simon, eyes widening in confusion. “What?”

Simon doesn’t repeat himself, just shakes his head.

“Did I do something wrong?”

Many things, Simon doesn’t say. Everything about Grace is just…wrong. Simon doesn’t understand him in the least, and it…confuses him. His thoughts feel all muddled, incoherent.

“Sì?”

“Dinner’s ready.”

Grace perks up at that. He sets the broom aside and walks over to where Simon had been half heartedly setting up the table. In the center is a pot of soup, still steaming, and Grace takes a deep breath.

“It smells good.”

Simon hums. “Sit and eat.”

And so, they eat dinner.

—

Simon is ten when he escapes. It’s futile, he knows. He’s managed to find himself on the most heavily military populated space station, slipping away during prisoner transport, but they’re catch him eventually. Still, he keeps going, keeps pushing. He slips between shadows, keeps himself concealed, and tries not to focus on how his vision is starting to blur as black spots dance in the corners of his eyes. He’s going to pass out, and then it’ll all be over. He’ll die.

—

Ryland Grace is twelve when he saves a boy. He nearly trips over his legs as he’s walking down a narrow hallway. It’s on a lesser known section of the space station, and typically very quiet. Somehow, Ryland has never run into anyone here, and he’s thankful for it. It allows him some peace and quiet, time to be alone and just think. But he nearly trips on something, not looking where he’s going as he rubs his sleeve against the lenses on his glasses to clean them.

“What the-?”

He looks down. Those are…legs. Someone is lying there. A…boy? He looks Ryland’s age, w ink black hair and…that’s a prisoner jumpsuit. This boy is a convict? How is that possible?

Without hesitation, he bends down, turning the boy onto his back, and nearly gasps at the injuries he sees. There’s very little thought in his mind other than trying to figure out how to help. He’s breathing, at least, so Ryland knows he’s not dead, but he’s bleeding and it’s bad. Ryland has always been clumsy and his brother had forced him to carry around a small med kit in case of emergencies.

“You’re always tripping and falling and hurting yourself, Ry,” Colt would tell him. “Here, I’m giving you this.”

Ryland pulls it out now, hands surprisingly steady despite how fast his heart is beating in his chest. He carefully stitches together wounds like he’s done on himself and wraps gauze and bandages around them. It’s only after he’s done that when he realizes they can’t stay here. Someone will come and even if Ryland has no plans on calling for a soldier, there’s no telling what another person would do.

—

Simon wakes slowly, and he’s…surprised. He thought he’d be dead by now. Maybe he is. A blurry face hovers in his line of vision. Soft golden hair, eyes like the sea. It’s almost like he’s looking at an-

“…angel?”

The angel squeaks.

“No, just Ryland. Um…how do you feel?”

Simon closes his eyes and then reopens them. His vision is a bit clearer and he forces his limbs to move, sitting up slower than he’d like.

“Wait, no! You’re still injured-“

It takes every ounce of strength Simon has, to move his body like that. Still, it works. He has the other boy, not an angel, under him, while Simon wraps a hand around his throat.

“Who are you?”

The boy barely struggles, like he understands it’s futile. Or maybe he’s just crazy, Simon doesn’t fucking know.

“I- I just told you. M’name is Ryland. Ryland…Grace.”

Simon narrows his eyes, but he doesn’t tighten his grip. He leaves his hand where it is, though, just to serve as a warning to not try anything.

“Where am I?”

Ryland licks his lips. “M…my room. I found you…brought you here. You were hurt. So I…helped.”

It’s only now that Simon realizes his injuries have been tended to. He’s sore, no doubt, but he’s been bandaged up and he feels the tug of stitches as he moves. Huh…

“Why?” He grits out.

“Why? Why’d I help? Why wouldn’t I? You were hurt.”

It doesn’t make sense. No one is stupid enough, no matter their age, to not recognize the jumpsuit only convicts wear. And Simon’s in the worst colour, reserved only for those who’ve taken someone’s life. Only ten years old, and Simon has blood on his hands.

“Can you let go? So we can talk?”

Simon hesitates, but there’s nothing about this boy, Ryland, that reads as dangerous. He moves as quickly at he can, back to the wall and far away from Ryland. Ryland coughs as he sits up, and Simon finds himself feeling surprisingly guilty. Not that he does or says anything about it.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better. You…you really had me worried.”

Simon scoffs. “If you want something from me, I have nothing to give.”

Ryland’s eyes go wide. “No! Not- I don’t want anything.”

“Then why’d you save me?”

“Asking that again…” Ryland mumbles under his breath. “You were hurt.”

“That’s the third time you’ve said that. So what? I’m a convict. Why didn’t you call anyone? Or were you waiting to confirm I’m alive to do that?”

“No! Jeez, do you only think the worst? I haven’t called anyone and I don’t plan on it. I just..I wanted to help. How do you feel right now? I didn’t have any liquid meds, but I can give you painkillers now if you need any.”

Simon can’t believe his ears. This kid helped him…with no ulterior motives? Somehow, he can tell Ryland isn’t lying. It bewilders Simon even more.

“No drugs,” Simon says, and Ryland seems to hesitate before he nods.

“Okay. Um. So. Wanna start over? Pretend like you didn’t just try and strangle me?”

Simon snorts. Sure, why not?

—

Ryland Grace is twenty four when everything goes wrong. His coworker drops dead next to him and the next think he knows, he’s being arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. It makes no sense.

“No one will believe you, you know. After all, you’ve already got a history. Harboring a convict when you were a kid? The story will go that you’ve always had problems.”

This can’t be happening. There’s no way. But Grace has no choice as he’s shoved into the back of a transport ship. They say they’re taking him to another station, where he’ll be convicted and eventually imprisoned. He didn’t even get a chance to say bye to Colt.

—

Simon is twenty two when he returns a favor. It almost doesn’t work, mostly because Ryland keeps looking at him like he’s seeing a ghost, pausing a little too long to stare before Simon’s forced to grab him to keep them both running. Soldiers are hot on their tails, but Simon’s been doing this long enough to know exactly how to get away. He just needs to do it while keeping Ryland alive as well.

“Si-Simon?!”

“Shut the fuck up and keep running, Grace!”

With a hand gripping onto Ryland, he shoves the older man and then himself into a hangar. Like he’d planned, there’s a ship waiting for them.

“Get in.”

“Where are we going?” Ryland doesn’t sound as panicked as a normal person would be, but Simon got the impression a long time ago that Ryland Grace is anything but normal.

“Just get in!”

Ryland does as he’s told and Simon slams the door closed behind them before starting the ship. There’s muffled shouting in the distance, but Simon gets the thing working and soon enough, they’re jetting away.

The cockpit is filled w silence for a long moment, and then-

“You’re alive.”

Simon scoffs. “Of fuckin’ course I am.”

He glances at Ryland and is startled at what he sees. The man’s eyes are welling w thick tears.

“You’re alive! And you- you just saved my life!”

Simon clears his throat awkwardly. “I’m just returning a favor. And for fuck’s sake, stop crying.”

—

Grace likes living w Simon. It’s…different than anything else he’s ever experienced, but he likes it. A lot. They may not get along all the time, and they bicker every single day, but Grace is happy. Simon hadn’t just saved Grace’s life once, but twice, and despite his insistence that it was only to return the favor from when they were children, Grace can’t help but wonder if there’s another reason.

“Are you gonna stare at me all day? Rocky’s waiting for you, you know.”

“Your words, not mine, Butcher.”

Simon hearing the voice of the man who told him to cross the wires…he’s hearing his own thoughts, his own head is trying to confront him w his own guilt. Simon either murdered his own brothers or tried to in an attempt to prevent the Filament Station incident. He’s constantly denying his involvement, and maybe it’s true that he didn’t want to hurt anyone, but he shows on multiple occasions to be reactive. Act first, apologize later

the thought only came to me because I kept calling IR!Simon ‘Simon Riley’, and then I thought it would be reeeeeeally funny if they were both at a coffee shop and when ‘Simon’ gets called to pick up their drink, they both reach for it

It’s just a meet-cute, but more for…friendship? ‘Cause Ghost is married to Soap and Simon’s married to Grace

But also, Simon and Ghost who bond over having shit childhoods and traumatic backstories. Ghost, w his father’s abuse and the death of his family, plus his less than pleasant military career. And Simon who, in this AU, was raised by a cult before he managed to escape and joined the military, and then was discharged when he lost his arm

—

“You have no one. No family. Not even a dog.”

“You’re wrong! I have…I have Simon!”

Stratt looks…well, Grace can’t fully tell. She’s always been good at keeping her expression neutral, but there’s something about it that makes the pit in Grace’s stomach grow

“He’s dead, Dr Grace.”

No. No no no no NO!

“You’re a liar. You’re lying! Where’s my phone, I’m gonna call him.”

Grace pats his pockets w frantic energy before Stratt very calmly slides something across the table towards him. Grace doesn’t want to look at it, but he sees it anyway, can’t tear his eyes away from the back and white photo of Simon staring at him from the newspaper

“He drowned, saving a child. It was…very heroic.”

It can’t be. This is fake, some kind of ploy to trick Grace into going on a suicide mission. He’s so sure of it. He is! But…no. That’s just what he tells himself. Stratt has never been a liar, and even if she’s pulled the rug out from under his feet now, Grace knows this isn’t a lie either. Maybe some orchestrated attempt at manipulation, holding back this information for so long, but it’s not a lie

—

There’s a strong gap in Grace’s memory, no matter how hard he tries to remember. Everything else had come back, the effects of the amnesia causing drug Stratt had administered fading for the most part. But there’s something that just…stays out of reach. Grace knows it’s important, and Rocky watches with about as much worry as a rock can conjure with no face. At some point, living happily on Erid, Grace comes to accept that he’ll never fill in those missing memories

—

It comes back like a flood. It almost knocks the wind out of him

“Simon?”

Dark, feral eyes widen in surprise before they narrow again

“Who are you? How do you know my name?”

Grace feels frozen for a long time, but he manages to get a handle on himself, reaching forward for the man he never thought he’d see again, the one he thought he’d lost, the one who’d left him!

But before he can make contact, Simon is on him, straddling his waist as a hand wraps around his neck

meanwhile Grace definitely is touch-starved. he’s gone over a decade without contact w another person, and Rocky doesn’t count because they literally cannot touch without causing pain to them both. he doesn’t think about it much because it’s simply not possible for him…until it is

timeline (semi based on canon) 0 EIC (1992) : Mars colony is established 143 EIC (2135) : The Quiet Rapture occurs 341 EIC (2333) : Simon is born 357 EIC (2349) : The Filament Station incident occurs 374 EIC (2366) : The Iron Lung is deployed

Simon is sixteen during the Filament Station incident

Simon has a kill count prior to this, and it's the origin of his title 'The Butcher'

While Simon was never entirely convinced about Eden and their philosophy, his mother was. Because he loved her so deeply, he did any and everything to make her proud of him

Eden's 'Father' knew of Simon's skepticism and put him through rigorous tests and trials in order for him to prove his loyalty

The 'mission' he was given that officially got him his title was actually an orchestrated test. Father had several brothers dress as COI members and ordered Simon to kill them. Simon refused to resort to murder, but Father used Simon's mother to convince him, lying that she would be in danger if he failed to remove the threat

Simon was twelve at the time and became Eden's most brutal and efficient soldier

The Filament Station incident truly wasn't supposed to go the way it did, however Simon's brothers saw it as a way to potentially get rid of him. Things escalated beyond their control and Simon was the one to take the blame for it. Even if it was the fault of his brothers, Simon still felt guilty for their deaths and turned himself in to the COI

Simon spent seventeen years in prison, where early on, he was often targeted by other prisoners, up until Simon proved to be willing to fight tooth and nail to stay alive, and he was mostly left alone after that

Simon is not naturally violent, but he has an incredibly strong will to live. His temper flares very quickly, but it tends to die just as fast. Most often, he is soft-spoken and keeps to himself

Inspired not just by Eden, but his mother as well, Simon loves plants

And for the sake of simplicity, this is the movie version of PHM, so Grace gets a window, and he looks outside to see some GUY just flying next to the Hail Mary and he fucking swears space madness or whatever has finally gotten to him

Clark, “Hi! Do you know where I might be right now? I think I got lost.”

Grace, “What the fuck?”

Rocky, Grace swear, question?

Grace, “I think…I’ve officially lost it.”

Clark, “Oh no! Are you okay? Do you need help?”

Grace, “Hey, Rock. Do you also see the floating man wearing a cape outside of Mary?”

Rocky, …yes. How possible, question? Rocky also crazy, question?