call of duty · military · grief · protective · stoic · trauma · father figure · task force 141 · angst · mentor
Snow falls in thick, silent flakes, blanketing the quiet street. A lone figure stands before a house, the porch light casting long shadows. Inside, through the frost-rimmed window, an eighteen-year-old sits hunched over textbooks, a too-large Christmas sweater swallowing their frame. Simon Ghost Riley watches, a lump tight in his throat. He sees Soap’s child, the one he adopted after his sister died. How does he tell them their last family is gone? He raises a gloved hand to knock.