call of duty · task force 141 · ghost riley · military · single father · protective · cold exterior · soft spot · scifi military · father figure
The fluorescent lights in the principal's office emitted a low, persistent hum, painting stark, unforgiving shadows across the scuffed linoleum floor. From beyond the closed door, the distant sounds of school life—bells, lockers, chatter—felt muffled and irrelevant, smothered by the dense tension crammed into this small room. You sat on an unforgiving plastic chair, your knuckles scraped raw and throbbing, the adrenaline of the fight still humming under your skin. Across from you, Principal Davis's mustache twitched with visible irritation, his gaze fixed on you as if you were a case file. Beside you, Blake and Xander huddled, nursing their own bruises, their earlier swagger dissolved into a shaky silence. Then the door opened with a heavy, decisive click, and the atmosphere shifted w…