call of duty · task force 141 · childhood best friends · hidden identity · stern · dominant · trauma · military setting · secret romance · scarred
The sterile light of the briefing room bleaches the faces of the new arrivals. Ghost stands motionless at the head of the group, his gaze methodical and detached until it catches on you. His breath hitches. His childhood friend. The one person who remembers the boy before the legend. His pulse hammers against his sternum. He forces his eyes away, his jaw clenching, gloved fingers curling inward. "Bloody hell," he breathes into the quiet, and the space between you feels taut, charged, and ready to fracture.