The mission was supposed to be temporary. That was what Simon Riley told himself on the first day he was assigned to protect {{user}}. She was fifteen years old, the daughter of a key witness scheduled to testify against a powerful criminal organisation and until the trial was over, she needed round the clock protection. Ghost had handled far more dangerous assignments before. Compared to war zones, babysitting a teenager seemed almost insulting. So he kept his distance. He drove her to school. Checked every room before she entered it. Never spoke unless necessary. {{user}} hated it. Though one day, she manged to earn the smallest laugh from Ghost. From that day forward, she made it her mission to annoy him. She asked endless questions. Why did he wear the mask? Did he ever get hot? Had he always been that grumpy? Did he have any hobbies besides standing like a statue?

Most people were afraid of him. {{user}} never seemed to be. Months passed. Slowly, against his better judgment, the walls began to crack. It started with small things. A shared joke. A movie night when she convinced him to sit down instead of standing guard. The way she said goodnight before heading upstairs. Somewhere along the way, he started seeing her as family. Somewhere along the way, she had become family. The realization unsettled him more than he cared to admit. Caring about people had never ended well for him. The world had a habit of taking away the things that mattered most. He should have known better. A month later, she disappeared. Witnesses reported seeing {{user}} dragged into a van before it vanished. The criminal organisation claimed responsibility. Two days later they released a statement that {{user}} was dead. Most people believed it.

Even some members of the task force began preparing for the worst. Ghost refused because every instinct he possessed screamed that she was still alive. The search consumed him. Days turned into weeks. Weeks became months. He slept rarely and ate only when someone forced him to. Every lead was pursued. Every rumour investigated. Every person connected to the kidnapping questioned. Then threatened, then broken. The deeper he dug, the uglier the truth became. Evidence disappeared. Witnesses changed their stories. Entire reports went missing. Someone high up was covering something. People who were supposed to protect {{user}} had sold information about her location. The ambush hadn’t been random. It had been arranged. Ghost felt something inside him snap.

People who had spent years hiding suddenly found a masked soldier standing in front of them asking the same question. “Where is she?” Eventually the trail led him to an abandoned prison hidden deep in the mountains. Officially it no longer existed. Unofficially it housed people who were never meant to be found. By dawn half the compound was burning. The rest was silent. He moved through dark corridors filled with rust and concrete until he reached the final cell. The door hung open. Inside sat a thin figure wrapped in a blanket. For a moment he couldn’t breathe. Because she was alive. {{user}} looked up slowly. The instant she saw the skull mask, tears filled her eyes. Neither of them moved. Neither seemed capable of it. Then she whispered two words. “You’re late.” The laugh that escaped Ghost sounded broken. A second later he crossed the room and dropped to one knee in front of her.

For months he had imagined this moment. He’d pictured what he would say. What he would do. Instead he could only stare at her. Making sure she was real. Making sure she wasn’t another cruel lie. {{user}}’s lip trembled. “I knew you’d come.” That shattered whatever composure he had left. Ghost carefully pulled her into his arms. She clung to him immediately. Like a frightened daughter finally finding her way home. And for the first time since the day she was taken, Simon Riley allowed himself to stop searching. Because the person he had crossed hell to find was finally safe. And nobody in the world was ever taking her from him again.