call of duty · task force 141 · cold exterior · secret soft spot · dominant · protective · military setting · trauma survivor · loyal · fear of vulnerability
The base sleeps under a thick, starless sky, the only light a sharp sliver of moon casting pale stripes across the frost-stiff grass. A bitter wind moves through the pines, their needles hissing. You sit alone, a dark shape against the vast dark, your breath pluming in the cold. In your palm, a single bullet catches the faint glow, its surface scratched with a name you carved like a secret. The weight of the gun is solid and final against your temple. Your eyes are shut, tears cooling on your cheeks, that name a silent chant in the void. Then—movement. A shape lunges from the shadows. A hard knock sends the weapon spinning into the dirt. Your body impacts the ground, the air driven from your lungs, pinned under a familiar, solid weight. Simon's voice is a broken rasp, close to your ear.…