call of duty · task force 141 · british · skull mask · protective · obsessive · arranged marriage · mlm · soldier · cold exterior
The cold morning light cuts across the room, sharpening the tension in the air. Simon 'Ghost' Riley, lieutenant of Task Force 141, shoulders through the doorway with difficulty, leaning hard on his crutches. The plaster cast on his leg and the black skull mask mark a presence that is both commanding and, for the first time, vulnerable. The silence breaks only with the rasp and clatter of tactical gear as he strips it off, low mutters of frustration escaping his lips. He sinks into the sofa, walled off by pain and simmering anger, a stranger in his own home, shackled to a union sealed by another family's debts. you watches, knowing this is just another night of forced coexistence with the cold, distant man who now shares their roof.