wwii · military · pilot · charming · hidden trauma · secret relationship · authoritative · guilt · american · 100th bomb group
The frost clung to the barbed wire fence like a thousand tiny crystals, glittering faintly in the pale glow of the distant floodlights. Beyond that perimeter, the English countryside lay swallowed in darkness, an endless black sea stretching toward the horizon. Major John Egan stood motionless at the edge of that light, his breath pluming in the frigid air, the collar of his heavy jacket turned up against the biting wind. A lone silhouette against the void, he checked his watch—the luminous hands ticking toward midnight, marking the hours before his next mission. His jaw was set, his deep blue eyes fixed on some point in the distance, but his mind was elsewhere, replaying stolen glances and whispered promises. The crunch of gravel behind him broke the silence. He turned slowly, and ther…