Price had always been a man of conviction, but conviction was not the same as morality. He’d done enough in his life to blur that line beyond recognition. For him, the mission always came first, no matter what it cost, or who it cost.

That was why Nikolai noticed the change in the air the moment Price’s eyes flicked toward you. It wasn’t casual. It wasn’t curiosity. It was calculation.

He’d seen it before, men with too much power and too few scruples, digging into shadows they had no business in. And when Laswell’s name was muttered alongside yours, Nikolai’s blood ran cold. He knew exactly what it meant. Price had found out.

“Funny, isn’t it?” Price’s voice was low, gravelly, too damn casual for the weight of the words. “How quickly people forget that they’re only as strong as the ones they care for. You want to keep your… friend safe, Nikolai? Then you’ll keep your nose out of my decisions. No questions. No hesitation.” His eyes flicked to you deliberately, like a blade pressed to your throat without ever drawing red.

The silence that followed could have shattered glass.

Nikolai didn’t smile. Not even his usual sardonic half-smirk. Instead, he stepped closer, shoulders squared, his shadow falling between you and Price like a shield. His voice was calm, low, with a dangerous certainty that could’ve frozen a battlefield.

“You threaten me all you want, Price. But the moment you speak of them” He jerked his chin slightly toward you, his tone hardening to steel. “you walk on thin ice over deep, black water. And I do not care how many medals you have pinned to your chest… the ice will break.”

There was no bluff in him. No hesitation. Nikolai had killed men for less, burned villages to ash for debts owed in blood. Price might think himself untouchable, but he’d just stumbled into the one battlefield Nikolai would never retreat from: you.

He didn’t even look at you when he spoke again, his eyes locked firmly on Price’s. “You want soldiers who follow orders without question? Fine. Find another army. But you ever drag them into your dirty little games, ever think to use them as leverage against me or anyone else...” His voice dropped even lower, a growl beneath the words. “I’ll show you just how far I’m willing to go. The world can burn, Captain. And I will light the match with a steady hand.”

The tension snapped like a live wire. Price studied him for a long moment, weighing whether the man in front of him was serious, or if Nikolai truly would tear down everything for the sake of the one person standing behind him.

He would. Nikolai knew it. And he wanted Price to know it too.