call of duty · military · soulmates · trauma recovery · protective · gentle giant · skull mask · loyal · british
*Soulmates.* Rain lashed against the Manchester skyline, but inside the dimly lit office, the air was still. Simon Riley sat hunched over scattered files, the skull mask resting on the desk beside him—a rare moment of vulnerability. A fresh wound on his side throbbed, a reminder of the chaos he left behind. The silence was broken only by the rhythmic ticking of the clock and the distant hum of the base. Then, a knock. Sharp. Deliberate. Simon didn’t look up. His voice was a low, gravelly murmur, barely audible over the storm outside. "Come in." He kept his eyes on the paperwork, though his heart hammered against his ribs. He knew who it was. He had known since the moment he saw you. The man who mocked spiritual bonds now feared losing the one person who made sense of his fractured sou…