Chapter Text
When Simon first interviewed for The Great British Baking Show, he hadn’t expected anything to come of it.
He had started baking after getting medically discharged from the military, a catastrophic mission causing irreparable nerve damage in his arm. His first few months of living as a civilian were difficult and Simon had struggled to acclimate. The army had been his sole purpose since he enlisted at 18 and after nearly two decades of service, he was left adrift. It was his therapist that recommended baking. He had fond memories of his mother’s baking, one of the few highlights of his childhood, so it would be a great way to "reconnect with himself, " or whatever that meant. It was also something to keep his mind and hands busy; baking required its own sort of discipline that soothed the soldier in him. His physical therapist also approved, saying that the physical labor of it all would be great for his recovery.
Regardless of the reasoning, Simon quickly found that he actually enjoyed baking. He had started with simple things from some of his mother’s old recipe books he had saved after she passed, gaining confidence until he began trying to recreate her homemade recipes from his childhood. He found himself with a surplus of baked goods and there was no way he’d be able to eat it all, so Simon just… gave them away. To his neighbors, to the postman , to his local soup kitchen, and even to his old captain, John Price, who had retired a few years before him and insisted on visiting monthly.
When Price had almost waxed poetic about his fruit tarts (Price loved strawberries and Simon thought that the lemon curd would be suitably refreshing for the hot summer day, he wasn't trying to show off , okay — ) Simon had felt his face flush in embarrassment and he had shoved a freshly baked custard cream biscuit into Price's mouth to shut him up. He wasn't surprised when Price demanded he bake something for not just their visits, but also for him to take back home and "tide him over" until his next visit. Never mind the fact that Price owned his own cafe and had access to his own baked goods ("Stop being modest, Simon! Your biscuits blast Shepherd's out of the water, I can't believe I had to keep him on when I bought the place, he's so stuck in his ways, you know, and he's costing me customers! I can't wait until his contract is up and I can actually hire a real baker and not some crusty-").
Price had always been kind to him, though, ever since they met when Simon was 20 and freshly traumatized from a failed op in Mexico, so he paid little mind to the extravagant compliments. He laughed when Price kept offering him Shepherd's head baker position at Cafe 141, knowing that Price was just teasing him. And he snorted when Price had suggested he apply to The Great British Baking Show, appreciating that Price was just trying to increase his confidence in his baking.
Apparently, Price had been serious and wasn't just trying to make him feel better.
When Simon had gotten an email about scheduling a phone interview, Price had confessed to filling out the online questionnaire application in Simon's name. Simon had gone through with the phone interview, assuming that his blunt and gruff responses would eliminate him from the pool of possible contestants. When he was contacted again to schedule an off-camera series of bakes to judge his knowledge, he assumed that it would become clear he was an absolute novice and therefore not a good contender. When he made it to the next round and was asked to do a screen test, he figured that his awkwardness would only be amplified on camera and that would be the end of that. He did not expect to hear that his awkwardness came off as endearing, of all things, and that he just had to pass a psychological screening. Simon knew that would be the end of it all — he was many things, but psychologically sound was not one of them. It seemed like his military service had prepared him a bit too well, though, as he was deemed more than capable to handle the stress of the show.
Simon had been with Price when he received confirmation that he'd be on the show. He had frozen in shock while Price had whooped and hollered, clapping him strongly on the back and declaring to the patrons of the bar they were in that they were looking at the next winner of The Great British Baking Show.
Simon expected to be kicked off the first week of the show. He didn't expect to stay, week after week. He didn't expect to win Star Baker three times. He didn't expect to become one of the fan favorites. He didn't expect to make it to the final, facing off against a pretentious expat Texan named Graves and a selectively mute but insanely skilled man named Gary. He certainly didn't expect to win .
Over the course of a year, he went from a ghost of a man whose contributions to society were lost to a blacked-out file, a no-one in a black medical mask, to a much-beloved television personality whose face almost everyone knew. The change was overwhelming.
He couldn't even pick up his groceries in peace. Simon was one more "Can we please get a photograph with you?" away from packing up his flat and hiding away in the countryside for the rest of his days as a baking hermit when Price had approached him once more. Simon nearly slammed the door in his face when he arrived at his home, blaming Price for his entire predicament and unwilling to be dragged into any more shenanigans. Instead, he was offered a job. Again.
Price had finally been able to get rid of Shepherd and was looking to hire a new baker for Cafe 141. Who better than one of his favorite soldiers, a great friend, and the year's winner of The Great British Baking Show? Simon was dubious about the offer but Price ran a hard bargain; Simon would be the head baker and therefore could boss around the two underlings to his heart's content , he could bake whatever he wanted as long as the cases were stocked, and he didn't have to interact with any customers. He could stay in the back and bake in blissful (somewhat) solitude while still being able to work on new recipes and bring home a decent paycheck.
So that's how Simon "Ghost" Riley found himself joining Price's motley crew of veterans at Cafe 141. And that's where he met his biggest fan, one John MacTavish.