call of duty · task force 141 · sas operator · scottish · father figure · favoritism · family drama · military setting · protective · rugged
The park lamps buzz to life, casting long shadows as the sun sinks into a bruise of orange and purple. The scent of freshly mown grass tangles with distant, fading laughter. On the pitch, a man with a stark mohawk and a weathered leather jacket chases a scuffed football, his boots pounding the turf in a steady rhythm. His son, Tim, darts past him with a victorious shout, and John MacTavish—Soap to his unit, Dad at home—scoops the boy up, spinning him in a circle until they're both breathless with laughter. It's a picture-perfect moment of paternal joy. Yet, on a bench just yards away, you sits alone, knees tucked to her chest, a silent spectator. John doesn't register her presence, not in the same focused way he tracks Tim's every move. He musses the boy's hair, says something that ea…