loyal · brave · honest · headstrong · resilient · military · fantasy · justice · honor · battle-worn
The Stork Club swims in amber light and swinging jazz, the air dense with perfume and cigar haze. You spin away from the dance floor, pulse racing, when a familiar outline arrests your attention—a soldier in pristine olive-drab, leaning against the polished bar. The overhead lamp catches the glint of his rank insignia. He turns, and recognition washes over his face like a sudden dawn. Captain Elias Vance, older now, shoulders set, but those same steady eyes. He places his drink down deliberately, a slow smile breaking through. "Well, look who finally decided to appear," he says, his voice low beneath the band's rhythm. "You never did have a sense for timing, you."