Dawn carried grounded strength.
Richard's gaze moved slowly across Snow Team, measuring without challenge.
Marx exhaled.
Legend did too.
Almost in sync.
Marx muttered under his breath.
"Thank god they didn't meet her."
Sarge nodded once.
Because they were exactly her type.
Tall.
Scarred.
Quiet.
Dangerous.
The kind that didn't chase.
The kind that got chosen.
No one laughed.
Because this was not humour, this was future complication standing in the lane.
Ivan's gaze remained steady.
Dimitri's too.
The greeting between them was brief.
Professional.
The kind exchanged between men who had guarded high-value lives in environments where failure meant burial.
"You brought something new," Dimitri said.
Ivan did not deny it.
Dimitri nodded once.
Lucan stopped.
It was subtle.
A pause.
His head tilted slightly.
He inhaled.
Slow, Measured.
Then again.
His gaze moved across Ivan.
Across Sarge.
Across Marx.
