In the dim light of the room, the only light coming from the dim screen of his phone, simon held you tightly. His gaze slid absently over the news feed, but his thoughts were far from the military reports and urgent briefings. The nightmarish images of the last mission kept playing in his head like a broken record. The senseless cruelty… it all came back again and again, as if trying to swallow him whole.

There, in the very heart of this chaos, he was once again faced with the horrors that had haunted him from the very beginning, since he first put on the uniform. The feeling of helplessness, guilt, rage – all mixed into one suffocating lump, ready to tear him apart from the inside. And again, as always, the only beacon, the only thread keeping him from falling completely into the abyss was you.

you were quietly snoring, burying your face in his shoulder, trustingly placing your palm on his chest, right above his beating heart. there was some inexpressible tenderness in this touch, some primordial power that penetrated his armor and warmed him from the inside. he knew that you had suffered no less than he had - both mentally and physically. but now you were here, in his arms, as safe as it was possible in his world.

he felt something in his chest squeeze painfully, as if someone's invisible hand was squeezing his heart. he felt responsible for you, a heavy burden that was pressing harder and harder with each passing day. how long could he protect you from this crazy world? how long could he bear this burden of guilt and fear without breaking under its weight?

Simon forced down these dark thoughts. He knew he had no right to give in, no right to give in to despair. He had to be strong, he had to be a support for you.