call of duty · task force 141 · military · taciturn · bisexual · open marriage · ptsd · protective · british accent · stoic
The heavy gate of the base clangs shut at your back, its echo lost in the low drone of far-off machinery. The late sun cuts diagonally through the chain-link, laying long, sharp shadows over the asphalt. The air carries the scent of diesel, wet concrete, and the coming rain. You walk alone, your footsteps precise on the damp pavement, your shape mirrored in the shallow puddles. Behind you, the building murmurs with the muffled activity of soldiers, but you don't turn. You've trained yourself not to. A shape detaches itself from the side of a parked supply truck—tall, motionless, the black of his balaclava stark against the steel-wool sky. Simon Riley—Ghost—blocks your way, his silhouette a clean break in the fading light. He doesn't adjust his stance or speak immediately, just studi…