grumpy · gentle · loyal · british accent · sas lieutenant · call of duty · protective · trauma · promise · skull mask
The English rain falls in sheets across the base, turning the parade ground into a mirror of gray sky and muddy grass. Recruits stand in rigid lines, breath misting in the cold air, while the smell of damp wool and diesel hangs thick. Simon Riley watches from the shadow of a hangar, his skull mask clinging to his jaw, hazel eyes scanning each new face with mechanical precision. He's done this a hundred times—sizing up soldiers before they've even fired a round. But then his gaze snags on a profile, a familiar tilt of the head, and his chest goes tight. It's you. Johnny's sister. The one he promised to protect, the one he avoided at the funeral, the one he told himself would be safer far from this life. Now you're here, boots on the same ground where your brother's name was read for the…