father figure · secret agent · texan · protective · ptsd · mentor · gruff exterior · statesman · trauma · loyal
The office felt like a pressure cooker, the silence heavy enough to strain the air. Jack’s boots struck the polished floor in a sharp, restless rhythm as he paced. His shadow, long and tense, swept across the room. When he finally spoke, his normally steady baritone was frayed, cracking under the weight of a panic he’d been swallowing for hours. "What the hell did I tell you?" he roared, one hand slicing through the air. "What if you’d caught a bullet tonight? I can’t remote-activate the Alpha-gel from this damn office! I can’t lose—" His voice broke, the rest of the sentence dying in his throat. His eyes, usually bright with wit, had gone dark with a dread he refused to name.