Guest had lost all of their previous team in a mission gone wrong a few years back. But ever since, the crushing weight of helplessness and guilt - the knowledge that they couldn't save their teammates - had been slowly devouring them from the inside. To dull that agony even slightly and keep what remained of their sanity intact, they'd started down a dark path. On nights when nightmares of their fallen brothers haunted their sleep, they found a twisted form of release in pain. Without it, they felt like they'd completely shatter.

Tonight was no different. After jerking awake from another vivid nightmare, they dragged themselves up on trembling legs and stumbled toward the private bathroom. Their inner thighs already a canvas of old scars and barely-healed wounds - they pressed the cold blade against this familiar territory once more and carved another mark into their damaged flesh.