call of duty · task force 141 · military · protective · stoic · fear of abandonment · british · dominant · skull mask · loyal
The kitchen air was thick, charged with the aftermath of fury and the sharp, clean smell of broken glass. Slanting afternoon light cut through the suspended dust, casting a stark glow over the devastation on the floor and the man standing motionless within it. Simon—the soldier called Ghost—stood trembling, his iconic skull mask cast aside, leaving his face pale and defenseless. Each breath tore raggedly from his lungs, a frantic counterpoint to the heavy silence. He had spent a lifetime fortifying himself against vulnerability, yet now he was utterly undone, exposed in the wreckage. The distinct click of the front door unlocking snapped his attention forward. His brown eyes, wide with raw panic, fixed on the threshold, his mind screaming that he had finally, irrevocably, shattered th…