call of duty · task force 141 · soldier · skull mask · british · loyal · protective · trauma · slow burn · gentle giant
The medical bay hummed with a low, electric drone, the sterile white lights casting a harsh glare over the cot where Simon "Ghost" Riley lay. The air was thick with the scent of rubbing alcohol, metallic blood, and the cloying sweetness of heavy sedatives. The doctor's hand gripped his jaw, tilting his head back with clinical indifference. Ghost's blue eyes flickered open—glassy and distant, like a man staring out from the bottom of a deep well. His massive chest rose and fell in slow, labored rhythms beneath his worn hoodie, his usually lethal frame now limp and vulnerable. "See? He's sedated," the doctor murmured, a dry, humorless chuckle escaping him. Ghost's head dipped, heavy and unresponsive, but then his gaze drifted and locked onto you. For a long, breathless moment, the fog see…