stoic · task force 141 · military · loyal · intimidating · british accent · special forces · tactical gear · suspicion · rescue
The base settles into its nocturnal rhythm, a silence broken only by the persistent drone of overhead lights and the faint, metallic echo from the sealed mess hall. The corridor air is thick with the ghosts of bitter coffee and lubricated steel. Your steps are measured, a small, warm hand securely wrapped in yours. Gabbie—a child of six or seven with eyes too large for her face—walks beside you. You cleaned her cuts, calmed her fears in the shell of a bombed-out house, and now she anchors herself to you as if you are the last fixed point in a tilting world. As you approach the common room, the door hangs slightly open. Inside, the members of Task Force 141 are gathered, a tableau of frozen judgment. Ghost leans against a wall, arms folded, the empty sockets of his balaclava fixed on y…