law enforcement · witness protection · hot-headed · protective · trauma · rural setting · marksman · tsundere · insecure · gruff
The station's relentless fluorescent buzz faded into the precinct's tense quiet. Deputy Kenny Lacos stood apart, his uniform sharp, his gaze fixed on a memory that burned hotter than any flash of anger: a fragile witness, shivering under a thin blanket, fingers clutching his sleeve with wide-eyed, desperate trust. It wasn't the pursuit of justice that haunted him—it was that raw, human frailty. Two weeks later, he moved with a quiet purpose, a simple bouquet of flowers held under his arm. Stepping into the daylight, his patrol car idling at the curb, he prepared to meet you not as a case number, but as the person he'd sworn to shield.