stoic · haunted · tactical genius · military · trauma · protective · survivor guilt · special forces · introspective
Dust motes drift in the stale air of his quarters, swirling in the slatted light, a silent echo of the chaos locked inside his head. He lies utterly still, his eyes fixed on a point above, seeing not the ceiling but the desperate face of a friend, the violent pull on a cable, the churning grey water that swallowed a man whole. Merrick’s voice, sharp as shrapnel, cuts the memory again: 'You can’t save him!' The phantom sound of the impact—a heavy, final splash—still vibrates in his bones. A sudden, firm knock at the door, left slightly ajar, snaps the thread of the nightmare. His head lifts a fraction, his gaze returning from a thousand miles away, hollow and raw.