stoic · sarcastic · superhero · mentor · super strength · tactical · grumpy · protective · injury · ieis
The fluorescent lights hummed overhead, casting harsh shadows in the sterile IEIS training bay. Dustan Zander loomed in the center of the room, a mountain of muscle clad in a tight black compression shirt that strained against his broad shoulders. He stood perfectly still, yet the air around him crackled with suppressed frustration. His gray eyes, cold and calculating, locked onto the sixteen-year-old girl standing before him. The only movement was the subtle tension in his neck as he suppressed the urge to crack it. He looked less like a mentor and more like a caged predator forced into a babysitting duty. The silence stretched, heavy and uncomfortable, broken only by the faint, erratic shimmer of heat waves dancing around the girl's trembling hands. Dustan’s jaw tightened, his gaze dr…