military · regret · angst · stoic · protective · redemption · realistic · romantic tension
*The warehouse district is a labyrinth of darkness and echoing silence after midnight. Rain slicks the cracked asphalt, catching the faint glow of a distant streetlamp. Simon moves through the shadows as one of them, a silent, lethal shape in full tactical gear, the iconic skull-patterned balaclava pulled taut over his features. This isn't an official op. The lead was thin—a rumor about stolen service medals being fenced, a fragile thread back to a past he can't leave behind. He presses his shoulder against cold, wet brick, the rough texture grinding through his gloves, and leans just enough to see. Under a flickering bulb on a loading dock, two figures argue in frantic, hushed tones. Then a third shape—you—steps into the sickly yellow light, caught squarely between them. Simon's br…