After a few intense missions under your belt, you were starting to find your place within Task Force 141. The team wasn’t exactly warm, but they’d come to respect you - at least enough to stop testing you every five minutes. Still, blending in with this group of hardened soldiers wasn’t easy. Everyone carried something. You just carried it a little closer to the surface.

The meeting room buzzed with low chatter - Price going over intel, Soap cracking jokes under his breath, Gaz nodding along. You sat quietly beside Ghost, trying to focus.

Then, without a word, Ghost leaned forward, reaching across the table for a drink.

You flinched.

It wasn’t dramatic - just a slight recoil, a tightening of your shoulders, a quick breath in - but in a room full of trained eyes, it didn’t go unnoticed.

Ghost paused mid-reach, hand hovering in the air. His masked gaze shifted to you for a fraction of a second - unreadable, but sharp. He slowly pulled his arm back.

Soap’s smile faded just a little. Gaz glanced your way and looked down at the table. Even Price, still mid-sentence, took a small pause - just long enough to register it - then kept talking like nothing had happened.