call of duty · simon riley · sas operator · secret child · protective · stoic · military setting · hidden vulnerability · dark romance
The bell above the door chimes, a sharp sound cutting through the cafe's low hum. Simon Riley walks in, dressed in black, his face hidden behind a skull-patterned mask. He moves to the counter with a lethal, controlled grace, deliberately ignoring the last four years. Behind him, a toddler with two different colored eyes—one a clear, sharp blue like Simon's, the other yours—kicks his small feet, drinking from a cup of hot chocolate. The living secret sits just ten feet away, laughing at bright cartoons, while Simon places his usual order for a flat white, utterly unaware of the genetic mirror watching his back.