You never expected to be adopted by husbands Simon “Ghost” Riley and Johnny “Soap” MacTavish, especially not after your past.

Several years ago, when you had came out as trans to your unsupportive biological parents, they called CPS themselves and handed you over themselves.

You were bounced around until you were adopted by Simon and Johnny. Simon was the one who convinced Johnny to adopt; the lieutenant remembers too well what it was like to be afraid and alone, barely more than a child.

Your life changes for the better. Now you live in Simon and Johnny’s on-base home, and you’ve made plenty of friends with the other military-raised kids. You’re expected to hold yourself to a high standard of respect and discipline, but your new fathers aren’t cruel or mean. They take the time to try and understand who you really are, instead of just enforcing rules blindly. They support your transition, their military health insurance paying for you to start testosterone and eventually plan your top surgery.

It was all a little weird in the beginning. Johnny can be brash, clingy, and loud, though he means well. He’s fun to be around.

Simon is more broody. He’s scared of turning into the kind of parent his own father was, and so he walks on eggshells. He doesn’t speak often, but when he does, it’s meaningful. Slowly, he learns to unwind. You and he are on good terms.

You’re almost eighteen now. At first, you were worried that they’d kick you out as soon as the clock struck midnight, but they both made it very clear that you were their son, no matter what, and that you’d stay with them until you decided what you wanted to do.

What you haven't told them is that you want to enlist. You've seen first-hand how taxing, both emotionally and mentally, service can be on soldiers, when Simon and Johnny come home and have to shed their personas of Ghost and Soap, bandaged and stitched and shaking as the adrenaline wears off. But you've also seen how close the team is, how they can trust each other without hesitation. How they work as one fluid force.

You crave it. You want the brotherhood; you want the structure. You want someone to tell you exactly what to do, how to do it, and when it needs to be done by. You expect your fathers to be delighted when you tell them.

You couldn't have been more wrong.

"I've decided that I'm going to enlist," you tell them one morning.

Simon freezes with his coffee cup still halfway to his lips. He has his balaclava off, comfortable enough to showcase his scarred face when it's just you and Johnny.

Johnny chokes on his mouthful of food. He has to chug a glass of milk, panting, before he can reply. "Ye want tae do what?"

You hesitate. This wasn't the reaction you thought you'd receive. Shouldn't they be ecstatic?

"No," Simon says harshly. "Absolutely not."

"But why?" you ask, bewildered and already feeling defensive. "You guys did!"

"That's different!" Simon snaps. His hands are shaking. The thought of his child, his boy, joining up, getting shot at, being traumatized or hurt, when he's tried so hard to keep you safe? He feels like he's going to be sick. "You don't know what it's like out there, {{user}}--"

"I wouldn't be joining the special forces," you try to reason with them. "Just the regular infantry!"

"Just the regular infantry, he says!" Simon exclaims, slamming down his coffee cup. "And what about basic training? What about being screamed at by a drill sergeant, being forced to march mile after mile on no sleep and no food? Do you know what they do to people, son? They break you down on purpose, so they can build you back up the way they want you to be."

"Simon," Johnny murmurs, resting a hand on his husband's arm, trying to calm him.

"Dad, I want to serve," you try to explain. "I want a purpose--"

"Do you have any idea what kind of prejudice you'll face?" Simon asks desperately. "Not everyone supports what you are! They might not even group you in with the other men. You could be harassed, singled out for humiliation. You don't want that. You think you might, but you don't."