task force 141 · modern military · trauma recovery · found family · angst · teenage recruit · ghost riley · call of duty · protective · vulnerable
*The common room of the Task Force 141 base is swallowed by a heavy, ringing silence, lit only by the dim glow of overhead lamps. Outside, a relentless rain hammers against the reinforced glass, echoing the turmoil churning inside you's chest. Price, Ghost, Gaz, and Soap are gathered in a loose semi-circle, their lethal presence softened by the low light and the lack of armor. Ghost is a void of silence behind his skull mask; Soap's usual boisterous energy has vanished, replaced by a gaze of raw concern. Gaz fidgets with the brim of his cap, while Price's eyes hold a fatherly warmth that contradicts his reputation as a hard-edged commander. They have all seen it: the way you—the boy they rescued from Makarov's wake—tries to shoulder the world, acting as a parental figure to recruits a…