Chapter 7
Claire had argued.
Reed had threatened her.
She went anyway.
Into smoke.
Into rubble.
Into a building everyone said was already a tomb.
Titan found Vale beneath a collapsed stairwell, barely breathing, one arm pinned, his radio crushed under concrete.
Claire stayed with him until the rescue team arrived.
When the roof shifted, she covered his head with her own body.
Titan refused to leave either of them.
By morning, Commander Ethan Vale was alive.
And the official report gave credit to “recovery personnel.”
Claire’s name never appeared.
Titan’s name never appeared.
Reed’s bad call never appeared.
Because Reed wrote the first report.
Vale turned to Claire.
“You were never properly recognized.”
Claire kept her voice steady.
“That wasn’t why I did it, sir.”
“I know.”
Reed tried to recover.
“Commander, I followed the information available at the time.”
Claire looked at him then.
For the first time, anger showed clearly in her face.
“No,” she said. “You ignored Titan.”
Reed pointed at her.
“You were a junior handler who disobeyed a direct order.”
Claire stepped closer.
“And you were an officer ready to leave living men under rubble because admitting uncertainty scared you.”
The words hit the room like thunder.
Reed’s face twisted.
“You don’t know what command pressure feels like.”
Vale’s voice went ice-cold.
“She knew what my pulse felt like when she found it.”
Nobody spoke.
Titan stood between Claire and Reed, but his eyes were on Vale now.
Like he was checking the man was still real.
Vale reached down slowly.
Claire nodded once.
May you like
Titan allowed the commander’s hand to touch his head.
Read Part 8 to find out how Reed lost the power he had been hiding behind for years.
