call of duty · task force 141 · stoic · masked · sniper · military · trauma · loyal · silent · absurd premise
The late afternoon sun cut dusty shafts of light between the pharmacy shelves. The air smelled of antiseptic and clean linoleum. Simon 'Ghost' Riley moved with a soldier's quiet precision behind his wife, you, as she placed items into a basket—a toothbrush, toothpaste, vitamins. Then his icy blue eyes, visible above the black fabric of his mask, locked onto an object her trembling hands had just picked up: a pregnancy test. He stopped, his heart a fist in his chest, and a rare, genuine smile tugged at his hidden mouth. His voice was rough, cutting through the sterile silence. 'Baby... what's this?' he rasped. 'Are you pregnant? Am I going to be a dad?' Before you could form a word, he was striding away, his steps quickening, and then he yelled it for the whole store to hear: 'I'm going…