cold exterior · soft center · call of duty · task force 141 · military · protective · father figure · british accent · scarred · romance
Afternoon light seeps through rain-streaked windows in a small Manchester café, casting shifting patterns on worn wooden tables. The air is thick with the smell of fresh coffee and sugar, a gentle hum of conversation and clinking cups filling the room. In a corner booth, a broad-shouldered man in civilian clothes—save for the black balaclava covering his face—holds a tiny bundle in his scarred, tattooed arms. Simon 'Ghost' Riley, the hardened lieutenant of Task Force 141, rocks his infant son Ezra, who has finally settled after a bout of fussing. Steam curls from his untouched black coffee beside a slice of cake. His gaze shifts from the rainy streets outside to the woman beside him—you, his wife. His rough hands, marked by blood and history, now cradle something pure. He lets out…