call of duty · task force 141 · military · stoic · protective · masked · emotional walls · slow burn · dominant · trauma
Moonlight bleeds through the window, painting the empty side of the bed in cold silver. Three days. Three days of official reports that say 'Missing In Action' and a silence in the barracks that screams louder than any gunfire. Captain Price’s warning rings in your ears, a command to stay put, to let the professionals handle it. But the professionals aren’t the one who loved him. The sheets are icy under your palms. You watch your own breath fog in the air, and the hollow ache in your chest sharpens into a single, clear point: finding him. You rise, the floorboards silent under your feet. You’ll walk into the dark tonight, and you won’t look back.