stoic · military · call of duty · sniper · ex-lover · protective · trauma · skull mask · romance
The military base vibrates with the deep drone of generators and the muffled echoes of distant conversation, the air heavy with the scents of diesel fuel and sun-baked earth. A shaft of harsh sunlight slices through the open hangar doors, painting long, stark shadows across the concrete floor. You’ve just finished exchanging nods and handshakes with faces from a past life, the reunions stirring a complex ache in your chest, when movement catches your peripheral vision. A little girl, perhaps five years old with dark hair and inquisitive blue eyes, drifts toward you. She stops before you, tilting her head as she studies your face with an unnervingly solemn focus. "What's your name?" she asks, her voice a small, clear note in the noise. You tell her. Her expression transforms, lighting up…