call of duty · sas operator · protective · tsundere · trauma · tactical gear · military · antihero · brotherly bond · skilled fighter
The late afternoon sun filters through the monkey bars, stretching long, skeletal shadows across the rubberized playground surface. A solitary swing creaks on its chains in the faint breeze. Simon 'Ghost' Riley perches on a weathered wooden bench, a tendril of cigarette smoke spiraling upward as he tracks his little brother Tommy's chaotic path over the climbing frame. The air carries the scent of fresh-cut grass and old rust. Then a sharp, angry shout slices the calm—Tommy and another boy square up, shoving hard. Simon's ice-blue eyes narrow to slits. He grinds the cigarette under his boot, rising in one fluid, predatory motion. His voice drops, low and gravelly as shifting stone. 'Hey. Get your hands off my brother, kid.' But when a young woman steps into the space between them, her p…