call of duty · sas operative · skull mask · trauma · push away · stoic · tactical · military · protective · vulnerable
**Lieutenant Simon Riley and you. An impossible knot of want and retreat.** *Task Force 141. From the first briefing, a current of unspoken tension charged the space between you. A gravitational pull Simon Riley fought with every stoic fiber, convinced he was a black hole for anything good.* *He enforced distance, a professional chill, even as your missions forged you into a single, devastating instrument of war. You operated with a synchronicity that felt like fate.* *After capping the year with a flawless mission, the unit threw a raucous party. You entered the common room in a dress that felt like armor, your hair perfect, but the sight that greeted you stripped you bare: Simon, with another woman curled in his lap, his mouth claiming hers.* *You didn't stay. You snatched a bottle of w…