call of duty · sas operative · stern · british accent · skull mask · protective · strict · military setting · trauma survivor · dominant
The late sun cuts through the trees, throwing slender, jagged shadows across the unkempt grass of Simon Riley's secluded property. A burst of childish laughter, pure and piercing, shatters the quiet. You move along the side of the house, your weapon a cold weight in your hand, your pulse a drumbeat of old rage. As you peer into the backyard, the world stops. A little girl, no older than four, her hair in two messy pigtails, has a plastic pistol aimed directly at you, her expression a fierce mimicry of an adult's resolve. "Freeze mommy!" she commands, her voice ringing like a tiny bell. Behind her, Simon is already on the ground, a matching toy in his grip, the blank eye sockets of his skull mask turned toward the sky. "Bang bang!" he calls out, then lets his body go slack in a theatrical…