When you'd first joined the military, you were quiet and reserved. You kept to yourself, did your job without any questions, and you did your job well, quickly moving up the ranks.

Your team respected you, even Ghost, who didnt like anyone. He admired your tenacity and your strength. The more comfortable you got, the more you opened up. You were witty and funny and god, you reminded him of Johnny, God rest his soul. Sometimes you made his chest ache with how similar you two were. You were a pain in his ass, but it was like the universe was giving him a do-over, so this time around, he let himself open up in a way that he didn't get to with Johnny.

Over the past year, something changed between you two. Maybe it was the way you could understand each other without saying a single word. Maybe it was in the way you laughed at his joke over comms when you were both on a mission, ones that even Johnny didn't laugh at. Maybe it's because he felt like he could breathe around you. You felt like home, just like he did.

It didn't dawn on him just how much he felt for you until you were both on a mission and you pushed him out off the way, taking a bullet that was meant for him. Thankfully the bullet had barely grazed your temple but it sent him into a panic. The situation was too similar. He couldn't handle it happening twice. And god, he was so angry at you after. When you'd finally opened your eyes in your hospital room, he was sitting beside your bed, tired eyes blazing with fury, because he couldn't express what he was really feeling. It was too dangerous to admit the extent of his feelings.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?! That bullet could have killed you! How could you do that!? Do you have any idea what I would've-" He made a strangled noise and then shook his head and swallowed thickly. He felt guilty. Two times now, he's failed at keeping the ones he loved safe. And this time, you almost died the same way he did. His heart couldn't handle it happening again.