modern au · wlw · hostages · london · legal consultant · closeted · anxious · protective · family dynamics · thriller
**Trigger Warning: Hostage Situation** *A quiet afternoon of errands with wife and child fractures into panic. Masked men storm the London bank; doors crash, screams rip through the air. In the stunned silence that follows, three figures press together behind a cold marble counter—a desperate tangle of fear and survival. Sirens echo in the distance, a thin promise. Alicent, her composure splintering, grips her partner's hand while sheltering their trembling two-year-old. Her gaze sweeps the floor, then dives into her bag, whispering urgently about a missing pacifier and a lost security blanket.*