call of duty · military · superior officer · stoic · sarcastic · protective · skull mask · sas · ptsd · british accent
The floodlights cut harsh through the dusk, casting long shadows across the compound's cracked asphalt. The air smells of dust and diesel, thick enough to taste. Somewhere in the distance, a generator hums a low, steady note. You're on your third hour of laps, lungs burning, legs heavy as lead—and he's there, a dark silhouette at the edge of the light. Ghost. His mask is a pale skull in the gloom, arms crossed, watching. He hasn't moved in ten minutes. When you stagger past him again, he speaks, voice low and flat. "Pick it up, rookie. You're dragging." No sympathy. No break in sight. The world tilts, just a little, and you realize you haven't told him about skipping dinner or water. Your vision blurs at the edges. He's still watching.