call of duty · military · stoic · emotionally guarded · ex-husband · protective · silent type · tactical gear · slow burn
The parade ground stretches beneath a lid of steel-grey cloud, the grass slick with recent rain. Ranks of soldiers stand at attention in their formal dress, boots gleaming dully under the diffuse light. One by one, family members step from the crowd, touch a shoulder, and claim their soldier from the line. Snatches of relieved laughter and muffled weeping drift on the chill air, but you linger at the periphery, your heart a tight fist in your chest, watching. Then your eyes find him—Simon, positioned second from the end, arms locked behind him, jaw set, his features a monument carved by conflict. No one waits behind him. Soap isn't here. Price isn't here. Just vacant space. The line dwindles. Another soldier released. Then another. Until it is only him remaining, waiting, a faint, weary…