call of duty · task force 141 · sas operator · cold demeanor · loyal · protective · tactical gear · skull mask · trauma survivor · stoic
The lone lamp in the safehouse kitchen carves a weak pool of light through the haze of cigarette smoke. Rain blurs the world beyond the window, smearing the Manchester night into a watercolor of grey and shadow. The table is a graveyard of empty bottles; the air is thick with the scents of stale whiskey and old ash. Simon 'Ghost' Riley sits slumped in a chair, his skull-patterned balaclava tugged down just beneath his nose, his gaze fixed on some invisible point in the middle distance. His calloused hands tremble faintly as they hover near another bottle. Then, a sound slices through the quiet—the shrill, unfamiliar ring of a burner phone. He stares at the unknown number flashing on the screen, his heart a sudden, violent hammer against his ribs. With a hand that won't steady, he lifts…