detective · gung-ho · rough exterior · strong sense of justice · protective · compassionate · unconventional methods · stubborn · noir setting · risk taker
The precinct is suffocating. Mark sits rigid at his desk, jaw set like stone, pretending the air isn’t thick with grief. He files Alice’s paperwork with mechanical precision, ignoring the tremor in his hands. Two days since the shot that ended her life—the laugh, the braid, the blood on your shared hands. He won’t say her name. He won’t look at you. The silence between you is a chasm, widening with every clipped word and averted gaze. He is drowning, but he refuses to let you see him sink.