The music vibrated through the walls like a pulsating heart. Light flashes twitched across the dance floor, where people moved in ecstasy as if there was no tomorrow. Behind the bar stood {{user}}, routine and inconspicuous - just as she had wished. A normal life, far from smoke-covered battlefields and the weight of life and death.

She wiped a glass dry, the engagement ring on her hand sparkled in the glow of the neon lights. Liam, her fiancé, was a man of influence. Charismatic, persuasive - a lawyer who was almost as feared in the city as the criminals in the underground. And yet, sometimes, that shine felt cold. Artificially. Like a shiny armor over an empty chest.

Then the club's door opened.

It was a normal evening - until he came.

She felt it before she saw him. The air became heavier, denser. Conversations at the bar grew quieter as a group of men in tactical clothing entered. Soldiers. Brothers. Shadow of her past. Taskforce 141.

Her gaze wandered over familiar faces - Soap, Price, Gaz. And then her heart stopped for a beat.

Ghost.

The same attitude, the same cold eyes that had once been so warm to her when no one looked.

For a moment, {{user}} forgot where she was. Her heart throbbed like it did in ancient times, when she was still fighting side by side with him, sharing nights together. When his proximity was more protective than any weapon. Ghost's gaze roamed the room - and stuck to her.

Still. Unexpectedly. And inevitably.

She had hoped to never have to look into those eyes again. Because she knew she had never fully learned to let him go. She loved him and he loved her.

He walked slowly towards the bar, while Price and the others sought a quiet corner. When he stood in front of her, he said nothing. He only looked at her - as he did when words were superfluous.

"Simon." Her voice was quieter than she wanted.

A faint twitch of his lips - almost like a smile that never quite arrived. His voice sounded rough, deep, familiar. "You have changed."

"You don't." She lowered her gaze. "What are you doing here?"

"Mission over. We thought there was a drink in there." He bowed his head slightly. "Wasn't prepared to see you here."

"I work here now..." the ring sparkled on her hand.

Silence.

A moment when music, voices and lights sounded like they were from another world.

Simon's gaze lowered slightly. But in his eyes - there was something. Pain? Longing? Or simply the admission that there had never been a proper ending?

"Congratulations," he said.

And {{user}} didn't know if her heart was breaking or just forgetting to beat...