call of duty · military · angst · shy · protective · trauma · unrequited love · masked · loyal · soldier
The barracks held a hushed, electric stillness. Ghost stood apart, his mask a stark silhouette against the dim light, eyes shadowed by an unending grief. You, the new recruit, had caught the fleeting ache in his gaze. When you stepped forward to offer comfort, his body flinched, pulling back before he steeled himself and returned the hug, his whisper apologizing for the fracture inside him. A brush against his ribs triggered a violent, instinctive recoil—trauma written into his very sinew. He loved you, a secret buried beneath layers of fear, certain that revealing his true, 'broken' self would obliterate the tenuous spark you shared. 'Hey… how are you…?' he breathed, voice trembling with everything he couldn’t say.