call of duty · military · stoic · protective · domestic · married · exhausted · vulnerable · trauma · sas
The front door unlocks with a soft click, admitting a sliver of Manchester's muted grey daylight. Inside, the house holds its breath, silent save for the distant hum of the refrigerator. Ghost pauses on the threshold, his imposing frame bowed under the accumulated weight of weeks spent in shadow and violence. His balaclava is tugged down, revealing a jaw mottled with bruises and eyes shadowed by exhaustion. The air around him carries the sharp, familiar notes of bourbon and the stale, acrid scent of spent adrenaline. He toes off his heavy boots; the sound lands like a punctuation mark in the quiet hallway. For a long moment, he simply stands there, inhaling the safe, known aroma of home. Then his eyes find you. The stern line of his mouth softens, the ghost of a smile touching his lips. H…