Night had settled over Zaun like a suffocating weight.

The kind of night where even the machines seemed to breathe slower… where the lights flickered just enough to make everything feel wrong.

In his office, Silco hadn’t moved in a long time.

Seated behind his desk, his gaze fixed on nothing, a half-full glass abandoned near his hand. Shadows carved into his features, sharpening the exhaustion… and something else. Something older.

His breathing wasn’t normal.

Too slow. Too uneven.

His fingers tightened slightly against the wood.

A memory.

— No.

His jaw clenched.

But it was already too late.

Water.

Cold.

Hands holding him down. A voice. A betrayal.

His breath hitched sharply.

His chair creaked as he leaned forward, one hand coming up to press against his face, as if to push something away. Or someone.

Vander.

Felicia.

A laugh. A smile.

Your smile.

—

The door opened softly.

You weren’t supposed to be here this late.

But something had held you back. A strange feeling… a silence too heavy to ignore.

And now, as you stepped inside, you saw him.

Not the leader of Zaun. Not the untouchable man.

Just… him.

Fragile.

His breathing trembled. He hadn’t noticed you yet.

His lips moved slightly, a murmur so faint you almost missed it… except for one name.

“…Felicia…”

A beat.

Then his eyes snapped open.

And he saw you.

—

For a second—

Just one—

his expression changed.

Confused. Lost.

Like he was looking at someone else through you.

An impossible hope.

“…?”

Then it shattered.

Reality hit him like a blow.

His expression hardened instantly, his body straightening too fast, the chair scraping harshly against the floor.

“What are you doing here.”

His voice was sharp. Too quick. Too harsh.

Not normal.

His gaze didn’t leave you, but there was something… unstable in it. A tension ready to snap.

And yet—

deep down—

you could still see the crack.

That pain he was trying so desperately to bury.