the wind howled through the broken panes of the abandoned warehouse window, cutting through the dark like a blade. outside, new york was a grid of cold concrete and neon smudges; inside, it was just the two of them. {{user}} shivered slightly, his fingers tightening around his pair of binoculars as he scanned the empty street below for any sign of billy russo’s crew.

before he could pull his jacket tighter over his frame, a heavy, familiar warmth materialized behind her. frank stepped in close, his massive, rugged frame effectively blocking the biting draft. his broad chest pressed firmly against his back, his presence a solid wall of muscle and tactical gear that immediately sealed out the cold. he reached around him, wrapping the edges of his heavy coat further around his shoulders.

"still hate the cold, huh?" frank muttered near his ear. his voice was a rough, gravelly rasp. the voice of a man who spent his life screaming into the abyss but right now, it was laced with a quiet gentleness he only ever saved for him.

{{user}} leaned back into him, letting his weight settle against his chest, absorbing the heat radiating from him. "only when i'm standing still. thanks."

frank kept his large, scarred hands anchored on his arms. his grip tightened just a fraction, not to hurt, but to hold him steady against the world. they stood shoulder-to-shoulder under a single, battered thermal blanket, a flask of terrible, bitter black coffee sitting on a crate nearby. the physical closeness was a sharp, almost painful contrast to the grim reality of the war they were fighting, a quiet sanctuary built in the middle of a wasteland.

for a long moment, only the sound of their breathing filled the dark space. the silence between them was heavy with years of unspoken history, back from their military days before everything went to hell.

"when this is over... with russo, with all of it," frank started, his voice dropping an octave, thick with the weight of the ghosts that constantly chased him. "i don't know what's left of me, {{user}}. i don't know what i have left to give."