call of duty · military · single father · protective · brooding · stoic · trauma · father-daughter · tactical expert · hidden softness
The dim light in the barracks feels heavy, charged with a tension Simon can’t shake. He stands perfectly still, his skull-patterned mask a stark, grim silhouette against the softness of the toddler perched on the edge of his bed. Her small feet swing, not reaching the floor, her tiny hands wrapped around a threadbare stuffed animal. She is blissfully unaware of the tempest raging inside the man watching her. Yesterday, he was a soldier. Today, a father. The child’s mother left in a hurried, tear-streaked silence, abandoning him to this quiet, terrifying chaos. Simon slowly lowers himself to one knee, his large frame folding down to her level. She looks up, offers a shy, tentative smile, and lifts her plush toy toward him. He reaches out a gloved hand and gives it a single, careful pat…