cursed

Eldest son, born to a man who wanted no child, and a woman without a single maternal instinct within her, Cooper felt the sting of abandonment and loneliness for years of his childhood. Instead seeking the company of imaginary friends and stray dogs that littered the streets of South Hills like fleas. It didn’t bother him - in truth he knew no better, but for a long time, Cooper refused to speak. With so little experience with warmth and care, he shied away from any act of social compliance that he could, and for a long time, a lot of people believed that he’d always be that way.

It was only when he was eight, and a young teacher took a special interest in his learning capabilities - or if there existed a lacking, that Cooper began to open up. For two years, she sought to encourage him in ways that a mother never had, and by the time his birth mother declared that she was once again pregnant and that he’d soon have a new Dad, Cooper might have even been happy about the idea of having a younger sibling.

A family was still a family if it was fractured, right? That was the way Cooper saw it, another eight years later, when the graying woman who took him under his wing in the classroom, sought to gain custody of him in the wake of his mothers first overdose. An act of good faith, and yet one done with a heavy heart as Cooper’s mother brought a third child into the world. Would tearing him from his siblings draw him away from the steps he’d made over the years? A question that inevitably needn’t be asked, as the once coy child refused to be torn from the lives of his new siblings, regardless of where he called home.

He spent as much time as he could, watching - helping his brother and sister to grow and learn, filling the myriad of holes that careless parents left. Perhaps they’d never know the love of a mother or a father, but Cooper wasn’t about to let them go without the love of a brother until he could do something more than simply be present and even as he stepped through the ropes of the marine corps, he managed to foster something akin to a safe place for the three of them.

But never was it meant to last, his first heartbreak found him after receiving a distraught call from his brother's partner while home from deployment. Barely able to understand the words that found their way through the phone, Cooper pushed his way through the doors of a well known drug den, to find his brother near lifeless upon the floor, suffering the same affliction of their mother. It was the beginning of Cooper’s most difficult plight in life.

Though it wasn’t his first experience with the addled life of an addict, it hurt far more than watching their mother destroy herself in his early years. He was present for this, torn by the ache that resided within his chest each and every time the younger Denver called upon him late at night, asking for help. They tried everything, and the number of doors broken and damaged as Coop tried to pull him from such a haze, slowly splintered whatever patience might have otherwise solidified his very bones.

Selfishly, the first sign of sobriety beyond six months saw Cooper accepting his next deployment, with a new patch as sergeant of a newly minted squad of marines. Juggling the lives of his men, and his brother in the days and nights he could breathe, he began to revert back into the isolation of his childhood years, distancing himself without even realizing it, in some subconscious attempt to save himself from the weight of the world. Atlas, buckling beneath all that he sought to shoulder, it proved to do little more than make him more determined.

Despite his brothers instability, the choice came where there was little else Cooper could do, and still his hand had strong at the nape of his brothers neck. Even more so as he dragged him from the streets of Wilmington and gave him the ultimatum - join the marines, or go it alone.

Five years later, the Danvers brothers were a name welcomed among all ranks and the weight Cooper carried felt a little lighter. As they both sought to specialise in search and rescue, Cooper built out his own squad with men and women of the same calibre. Soldiers hardened by needless war, brutalized by training and battle and loss, yet the first to put their hand up for the next chopper out, leaving egos at base camp. Which only made it all the more shocking when the call came through that four of them were dead, and the rest nowhere to be found.

The Danvers and those with them had gone dark, leaving no trace of where they might have gone, with a classified target with them.

For twenty three days, there was no sign of the marines. No sign of life at all, until a small fishing village off the coast of Syria was attacked. The sole perpetrators, a small team of marines demanding refuge and passage home. Further investigation bore no new details, and beyond the word of the villagers, Cooper was faced with an impossible decision.

His second in command, and brother were quietly arrested for war crimes and sentenced to federal prison, and nothing more was spoken about the incident to the public. Cooper took a leave of absence and returned home, perhaps none the wiser that every choice he'd made, led him right back to the isolation he’d spent his whole life trying to fight.

––––––

most wanted

Friends: Cooper was born and raised in Wilmington and had been here on and off his whole life between deployments and the like - this can range from best friends, to lost friends, to friends to enemies. // Nazli, Sienna, Shiv, Nik

You're not lost yet: Cooper is a bit of a shell at the moment, and doesn't really know how to pull himself out of this rutt he's in. In fact, he's probably not even acknowledging the fact that he's even in a rough place. This person would be gently trying to get him to open up a bit - perhaps they miss their old friend, perhaps they're just curious.

Fear can't kill you: With the recent events, they've approached Cooper to help them train or help them with self defence. This can include companies/people looking for private security services from him // Parker

We were never meant to make it: This is the person that knew him the most before things with his brother became the hardest. Irrevocably in love with each other, Cooper called things off when he simply felt he couldn't give them as much energy as he wanted to. Very much a "I can't give you what you want right now" kind of situation. Neither of them ever really recovered from it. // Parker

Current fling: this is entirely physical and very much a connection that is more to blow off steam than anything else. Bad day? Let's catch up. You pissed? Take it out on me.

Previous flings: self explanatory. He's been back and forth between deployment and Wilmington his whole life. This // Sienna (was close with his brother/currently hacking Coops personals for info), Nicole (brothers friend troupe)

Brothers fiance/girlfriend/ex: this is the girl that saw everything Cooper did for his brother during his addiction and couldn't believe how much an older brother could love his younger so much.... But, that's all changed now that his younger brother is in federal prison. She can't stand the sight of Cooper and blames him (though she doesn't actually know it's his fault)

WCS I'll submit to the main: One younger brother and a younger sister (I'd prefer if the sister was the youngest but whatever works!) these are both HALF siblings.