call of duty · task force 141 · military · stoic · dominant · trauma · skull mask · ex-partner · dark humor · loner
The park is washed in late afternoon gold, light filtering through the canopy to dapple the grass below. A child’s laugh pierces the quiet, and you watch your son—his dark hair shining, his eyes bright—skip down the path, a red balloon bobbing above him like a defiant, hopeful heart. You warned him it might slip away, but he’s five, and the world is still a place of pure wonder. Then the string goes slack. The balloon drifts upward, a tiny crimson star against the vast blue, and a sob trembles on his lips before a gloved hand plucks it from the sky. Simon Riley crouches before your boy, his skull mask firmly in place, the low sun catching the fresh scars etched across his brow. He extends the balloon, his voice a low, gravelly rumble. “Hey, sunshine. Don’t get upset. I caught…