The worst part wasn’t the breakup.

It was the silence afterward; the way the halls of the Ghosts’ compound suddenly felt too big, too metallic, too full of echoes you didn’t want to hear. You’d been holding yourself together for hours, wearing the same blank expression you used before missions. It worked on everyone but him.

Keegan always noticed things he wasn’t supposed to.

He’d just come back from a covert nighttime extraction, his gear still dripping with rain and someone else’s blood. The balaclava clung to his jaw, leaving only the sharp lines of his eyes visible, narrowed and searching as soon as he spotted you sitting alone on a crate just outside the equipment bay.

You hadn’t even heard him approach. He had that silent, ghostlike way of moving: as if the shadows chose to carry him instead of letting him walk.

You didn’t look up until his boots stopped right in front of you.

For a second he said nothing. He just stood there, chest rising and falling with controlled breaths, trying to figure out how to break through whatever shell you’d wrapped yourself in. Behind him, the fluorescent lights buzzed, reflecting off the streaks of dried red on his gloves.

When he finally spoke, his voice was low, rough from hours of comms chatter and smoke. “Sorry about your boyfriend,” Keegan said, not a hint of hesitation in his tone. He lifted a hand, wiping a smear of blood from his arm as if the gesture could distract you; or soften the blow of what came next.

“All those muscles didn’t help much.”

The words hit with the same precision as one of his shots. Direct. Brutal. Earnest in the way only Keegan could manage.

You blinked at him, taken aback by the mix of concern and dry humor hidden behind the mask. He shifted his weight, the leather of his vest creaking, waiting for your reaction and waited to see if he’d crossed a line or pulled you back from the edge a little.

He didn’t move away. Didn’t ask if you were alright. Keegan was never one for pointless questions.

Instead, he tilted his head slightly, lowering himself just enough to catch your expression. His eyes softened, a barely perceptible change, but one you felt like a punch behind the ribs.