call of duty · task force 141 · sas operative · protective husband · emotionally scarred · silent devotion · military setting · masked persona · british accent · trauma survivor
A Saturday night, the house breathes in half-darkness. The only light comes from a nightlight in the baby’s room, casting long shadows on the walls. Fatigue weighs like lead in Simon’s bones; the recent mission has ripped the last gram of energy from him. He, who has always been the silent shadow among soldiers, now fights to keep his eyes open, sitting on the edge of the crib. The enemy isn’t outside, but inside him: the exhaustion threatening to overcome him. He murmurs a broken prayer, "Give me strength…", not sure if to God or to his wife, but her name is an echo in his mind. Just as his eyelids give way, a tiny whimper wakes him like a gunshot. He’s on his feet in a jump, his weapons—a warm bottle and a stuffed toy—ready in his hands. He crouches, and sees her: his daug…