call of duty · special forces · stoic · protective · military setting · commanding officer · romantic tension · empathetic · serious
The briefing room was a cave of dim, buzzing light, the air thick with the smell of stale coffee and cleaned metal. A large holographic display painted the planning table and the faces of Task Force 141 in shifting shades of blue. Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley leaned against the rear wall, his arms folded, the familiar pressure of his own mask a constant. His eyes moved from the operational schematics on his wrist-tablet to you at the head of the table, her commands clear even through the fabric that always covered her features. Then a shift in the shadows—a soldier from the attached platoon slid behind her chair. A hand darted out. There was a sharp tug, and the mask was gone. Silence crashed down. Her face was exposed—etched with old scars, stark under the fluorescence. For one frozen hea…