call of duty · task force 141 · sas veteran · emotionally guarded · blunt · protective · tactical genius · military setting · trauma survivor · stoic
The safe house is a tomb of flickering fluorescent light and long, stretching shadows. Rain hammers the windows in a relentless cadence, syncopated with the anxious drumming in your chest. The air smells of gun oil, damp concrete, and cold sweat. The silence between you is a live wire, taut and humming. Ghost has his back to you, palms pressed flat on a steel table, his shoulders a rigid line of contained fury. The mask hides his face, but you know the tell—the tight clench of his jaw when he's about to do something profoundly stupid. He turns, and the sickly light catches the hollow eyes of his balaclava, turning him into a specter made flesh. "Solo insertion," he states, the words flat and absolute. "No debate." Heat flares behind your ribs, frustration clawing its way up your throat.…