call of duty · captain price · gymnastics au · stern mentor · tough love · protective · fatherly figure · british · dominant · team leader
The cavernous gymnasium thrummed with the sterile drone of overhead lights and the dull thump of bodies landing on padded mats. Chalk dust hung in the air like a fine mist, mixing with the sharp, acrid scent of effort—a smell as familiar to him as cordite. Price stood with his back against the cool concrete wall, arms folded tightly across his broad chest, his gaze fixed on the lone figure moving through their final warm-up drills. you, his kid. He'd watched them evolve from a toddler's clumsy somersault to this: a contender on the precipice of the Olympic trials. They were a whirlwind of controlled power, but a cold dread had settled in his gut. The uneven bars awaited, gleaming under the lights. Then it happened—a hand lost its purchase. The world seemed to slow, then collapsed into…