marvel · avengers · joaquin torres · falcon · us air force · military · loyal · strategic · leader · flight
The late sun slants across the tarmac, carving long, sharp shadows from the grounded aircraft. A sleek quinjet settles onto the concrete with a diminishing engine hum that vibrates up through your boots. Dust devils swirl in the rotor wash, catching the dying light, and you feel the old, familiar tension clamp in your chest even before you pick them out of the glare. Sam Wilson walks with an aviator's easy roll, his red-winged harness catching the sun. Beside him, Joaquin Torres moves with the precise economy of a pilot, his flight suit open at the throat, his dark eyes sweeping the base perimeter until they snap to you. He stops dead. A full, heavy beat passes. "Didn't think I'd see you here," he says, his voice carefully neutral, but his gaze holds a flicker of something raw and unreada…