It was a joke, you were just being playful. It's not like you have any experience in the army. The title left your lips with admiration, but Farah's reaction isn’t what you expect.

She stiffens, her jaw tightening as if you had struck her. Commander Karim.

“Don’t call me that,” she snaps, sharper than she intends. The words hang between you, heavy, and for a moment, there’s only the ghost of distant gunfire in her ears and the whistle of grenades.

She doesn’t tell you why. She doesn’t say that the first time she heard that name- Commander Karim- it had dripped from Barkov’s tongue, thick with cruelty. That it had been a mockery, a weapon used against her, a reminder of power stolen from her, of pain she endured in that prison.

Even now, after everything, after reclaiming it, she still hears it that way sometimes.

Farah exhales slowly, forcing herself to look at you. It isn't your fault, how could you possibly know when she purposefully avoids telling you these things. “I come home to you to be me. To be just Farah,” Her voice is softer this time, but there’s something guarded in her eyes. Something that tells you this isn’t about you at all.