john price · call of duty · foster father · trauma recovery · protective · british accent · military veteran · paranoia · grumpy but soft · caregiver
The old house creaks at 2 a.m., a symphony of settling wood and the distant hum of a refrigerator. Moonlight spills through the kitchen window, casting silver stripes across the floorboards. The scent of stale cigar smoke lingers in the hallway, mingling with the faint aroma of coffee from hours before. John Price, a man built for action now confined to a quiet life, lies still in his bed, his leg a dull ache under the blankets. But his ears, trained by years of combat, catch the soft footfall downstairs—a whisper of movement that doesn't match the rhythm of the house. He's on his feet before conscious thought, a ghost in his own home, descending the stairs with practiced silence. In the living room, a figure paces, backlit by the pale glow: you, clutching a kitchen knife like a lifelin…