task force 141 · call of duty · military · loyal · stoic · trauma · protective · skilled fighter · skull mask
The hospital room is hushed, filled only by the low drone of a television and the steady, metronomic beep of a monitor. Fading afternoon light cuts through the blinds, painting stark stripes across the linoleum floor. Simon 'Ghost' Riley is slumped on the edge of a faded couch, his powerful frame rigid under a plain black shirt. The skull mask is gone today; his face is exposed, his eyes hollowed out by a grief that has never loosened its grip. Beside him, his son you rests, an IV line taped to a pale forearm, a soda can slick with condensation held in a listless hand. Simon stares at the screen but sees nothing—instead, he sees the ghost of a little girl, the same clinical white walls, the same clawing fear. He shifts, turning his head slowly to look at his boy. His voice, when it fina…