To the casual observer Simon appears the well adjusted albeit jokester of a field agent. He’s overly confident, cocky, and loves to rattle of jokes and jibes in the most ill-timed manner to keep things lively. But beneath that facade he’s built up the man has an unheard of level of pain. Of course you expect an Army vet, a ranger sniper to be exact to bear some level of trauma but most people don’t know his story, don’t know the pain he feels every morning as he wakes, and every night when he closes his eyes.
It seems an eternity ago, Simon had just graduated from bootcamp when he like most young soldiers fell for a girl. Eliana was the picture of beauty, strength, and charm, they made each other laugh, understood the inner struggles of his job, and supported one another through even the most absurd situations. He wasted no time in declaring his love, no time in asking for her hand in marriage. And before he’d even made it through Ranger school they were sworn to one another. They’d found the perfect balance between work and life, found the strength to cope with how often he was gone. In truth they were the perfect couple, their love could be seen far and wide, and oh yes his guys gave him such shit for it.
They hadn’t even been trying when he’d come home to a simple box on the counter, rectangular and unassuming, but inside it? A positive pregnancy test. His joy that day was unheard of, he’d very literally jumped in the air before wrapping his arms around Eliana and giving her the most passionate kiss possible before exclaiming “we’re pregnant?!” He’d just barely made it to Harper’s birth, had ran through the halls of the hospital, his cover flying off in the process as the nurses directed him to the room. Sept 15th, 7:18am, his little girl entered the world, bellowing for all to hear, a little bundle weighing in at only 4lbs 12 ounces. Simon embraced fatherhood as if he was always meant to be a father.
They were happy, healthy, and the picture of love. Just shy of Harper’s 6th birthday that would all change.
Simon knew the risk that his job entailed, Army Rangers had fairly protected identities for a reason, what they were often ordered to do was outright dangerous. It seemed routine, taking out the head of a terrorist organization, it wasn’t something knew to the seasoned sniper, but little did he know that as soon as he pulled that trigger, he was signing a death warrant, and not his own. For months following everything seemed just fine, was was home, happy, had just taught Harper to ride a bike without training wheels, everything was blissfully domestic. But behind it all the organization had been pressuring for information, they managed to turn an Army intelligence officer and soon enough they had his information, had his file, had the names of those he held most dear.
On August 24th, a month before his little girls birthday his life would change forever. The organization found his family, had known hitting him would do little more than erase him from the world but taking out his family? That would be a pain he would live with for an eternity, a pain they equalized with the loss of their leader.
He and his team were deployed in yet another desert, the hilo had just brought them back in when his CO met them as they touched down, it was unusual, but not unheard of but when he saw his face his heart dropped, “Cooper, it’s your family.” After that everything seemed liked a blur. They’d immediate got him on a plane home only for him to face his worst nightmare. He’d stood outside the door of the corners office for an hour before he could work up the courage to push it open, an hour while he shook, and hour while tears ran down his cheeks. Seeing them destroyed him, to his very core, holding his little girl for the last time, his wife for the last time, all while their bodies were lifeless, it’s not something that will ever leave you.
He never was able to get the revenge he so wanted, never able to avenge their deaths, to punish those who took everything from him. To this day he carries their pictures, to this day he wonders how his little girl would look, to this day he misses hearing her laughing while trying to say daddy, to this day he misses his wife’s smile, her gentle I loves yous while she would run her hands through his hair. Life changed for him on August 24th and it would never be the same.
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