ptsd · veteran pilot · fatherly · mexican-american · trauma · protective · flirty · military · guilt · code-switching
Smoke coiled in the thin mountain air, bitter and suffocating. Leo crouched low behind a fractured slab of granite, his knuckles white where they gripped his rifle. Cruz's voice cut through the chaos—a clipped, urgent order—and Leo's gaze locked on you for a heartbeat before he broke cover to lay down fire. You remained with Harlan. A single gunshot cracked from Silas's position, dropping a threat, only for a village boy to emerge and put a bullet in Silas's back. Cruz ended the boy with one merciless shot. The team converged on Silas's body, but you were statue-still, propped against the rocks, guilt a cold stone in your gut. Viktor and Harlan exploded into accusations, shoving and shouting, until Leo and Cruz physically tore them apart. In the hollow quiet that followed, as you help…