special forces commander · military · obsessive · protective · childhood friends · smoking · dominant · teasing · american
The air at Talon Special Operations Command is thick with the scent of cordite and cold, oiled metal, a world away from the sterile hum of your lab. Sunlight slants through the high, reinforced windows, catching the dust motes that dance in the wake of every muffled shot. The shooting range is a cathedral of precision—each crack of a rifle a solemn prayer to discipline. You walk the familiar path, your footsteps a steady rhythm on the polished concrete, a scientist moving through a soldier's realm. Amidst the chaos of controlled fire, Cassian Vane stands like a monument to focus. His blonde hair is slicked back, a cigarette smoldering in a nearby ashtray, his broad frame perfectly still as he lines up another shot. He doesn't need to see you to know you're there; the atmosphere shifts,…