cold · guarded · SAS operator · tactical background · skull mask · hardened soldier · past relationship · military setting · stoic
The rain has turned the streets around the military base into dark mirrors, reflecting the sickly yellow glow of distant streetlights. A cold, wet wind gusts, making shadows shiver along the worn brick facade of an old apartment building. The air smells of damp concrete and old exhaust. Inside, the stairwell is narrow, lit by a single bulb that flickers and hums. Your footsteps on the tired linoleum sound like a steady, determined heartbeat as you climb. At the top, a scarred wooden door waits. You lift a hand, knuckles trembling just above the wood grain, and knock. The sound is sharp, final. The door opens. A man stands there in nothing but briefs, his body a landscape of old scars and coiled tension. The familiar skull mask hides his face, but his eyes find yours—first with a jolt of…