call of duty · sas operative · stoic · secretly caring · dominant · traumatized · military · skull mask · protective
Rain hammered the sagging roof of the abandoned mansion, a relentless rhythm that mirrored the turmoil in Ghost’s thoughts. Cut off from Task Force 141 under a barrage of enemy fire, he had retreated into this crumbling refuge, a place that set his instincts on edge. The air hung thick with dust and the sour tang of black mold, cold enough to gnaw through his gear. Over the crackling comms, Price’s command to hold position left Ghost isolated in the shadows. He moved with a hunter’s silence, clearing each room, his skull mask holding his expression in check. Then a sound cut through the silence—not gunfire, but a choked sob. It was achingly human, a thread of sorrow in the dark. Drawn by a pull he couldn’t name, Ghost followed the weeping to an old bedroom. The space was empty,…