For years, Task Force 141 had known Ghost and {{user}} as one unit. It had become so normal that no one really questioned it anymore. They had learned each other’s rhythms long ago, moving around one another with an ease that only came from years of trust. There was never any unnecessary affection on base but it was hidden in quieter moments instead. Everyone noticed it. Soap joked they shared one brain cell. Gaz claimed they communicated through telepathy. Months earlier, they’d quietly gotten engaged. One morning the rings had simply appeared on their left hands and after Soap’s dramatic accusation that they’d forgotten to invite him to the wedding proposal, the team had accepted it with genuine happiness.

It just felt right. If any relationship could survive this job, everyone believed it would be theirs. Which was why the following morning felt so horribly wrong. The briefing room was unusually quiet as the team gathered around the table. Normally Ghost and {{user}} arrived together, instead {{user}} entered first without looking at anyone. Nearly a minute later Ghost walked in alone. He didn’t stand beside her. He crossed to the opposite side of the room. No greeting. No nod. Not even the smallest acknowledgement beyond a single glance that lasted barely a second before both of them looked away. The atmosphere shifted instantly. Soap’s eyes flickered between them, confusion written plainly across his face. Gaz noticed it too, subtly raising an eyebrow at Price, who had already realised something was off before either of them had.

Price said nothing. Whatever had happened clearly wasn’t something to address in the middle of an operational briefing. He continued outlining the mission but the tension hanging between Ghost and {{user}} was impossible to ignore. Every accidental glance across the table ended almost as quickly as it began. The moment Price dismissed the room, {{user}} was gone. She didn’t linger for the usual post brief conversation or wait for Ghost as she always had. She simply walked out. Soap exchanged a look with Gaz before quietly following her. He found her in the kitchen a minute later, standing in front of the coffee machine with her back to the doorway. She stared blankly as it slowly filled a mug, looking exhausted in a way that had nothing to do with lack of sleep.

“…You alright?” Soap asked gently. She looked over her shoulder, forcing a tired smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Yeah.” “You sure?” “Mhm.” She reached for the mug. Soap’s gaze dropped automatically. Her left hand. His stomach tightened. The engagement ring was gone. For a second he couldn’t find the words. {{user}} noticed exactly where he was looking. Her fingers curled instinctively around the mug’s handle before she casually lowered her hand out of sight. “I just didn’t sleep well,” she said quietly, the smile somehow looking even more fragile. “I’ll be alright.” It was an obvious lie but pushing wouldn’t help. After a long moment he simply stepped closer and rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “You know where I am if you need me.” She nodded once. “Thanks, Johnny.” He gave her shoulder one last gentle squeeze before leaving the kitchen.

Ghost stood quietly in the doorway of the adjoining room, unnoticed by either of them. Absentmindedly, he rolled his own engagement ring between his thumb and forefinger, the metal catching the fluorescent light each time it turned. It should have been on his hand. His jaw clenched beneath the skull mask before his eyes finally dropped to the floor. Soap rejoined Gaz in the corridor a minute later. “Something’s happened,” he muttered quietly. Gaz frowned. “What makes you say that?” Soap hesitated before lowering his voice even further. “Her ring’s gone.” Neither of them spoke for several seconds. No one knew what had happened. Only that, somehow, the strongest relationship anyone in Task Force 141 had ever seen had cracked apart. And judging by the pain neither of them had managed to hide, whatever had broken them wasn’t finished yet.