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And they call us monsters?
“How are you?” König whispered as softly as he could.
“I’m alright,” Horangi answered automatically, but König could see how much he shivered. They had shaved all his beautiful blue fur off this time and left him lying there on the cold hard floor of the cell.
König struggled to creep closer, as close as the chains would allow. It wasn’t enough to scoop Horangi up and keep him off the ground, but it was enough to put a paw over his back and breathe warm air towards his shivering body.
“We will get out of here, I know we will,” König whispered. He didn’t know anything of course, but he had to believe that, or he would just go insane.
Horangi didn’t say anything, or move. König knew that the serum they injected them with to keep them from shifting back into their human form affected the Korean a lot more than himself. König was used to spending a lot of time in his Lindwurm form anyway.
He kept breathing warm air at Horangi and listened to the guards patrolling the hangar outside of their cell door. He was almost asleep when he heard the commotion. Humans shouting, angry roars and piercing screeches. Even Horangi lifted his head weakly. “Sounds like they got “fresh materials”, he said, despair in his voice.
"," König muttered, slipping into his native language.
Horangi hummed non-commitally and let his head sink down again. König settled down too, it wasn’t like they could help the newcomers in any way.
______________________________________
Roach stood with his back against the building, blowing out smoke rings and watching Ghost spar with the FNG. John MacTavish had joined them a month ago. Price had decided they needed a specialist for water rescue and the selkie fit that profile perfectly. He was strong, agile and could shift into a large, ferocious leopard seal. Certainly a force to be reckoned with and an asset to their team of specialised monster rescuers.
Outside of work, MacTavish was bubbly and likable and was soon fast friends with Gaz as the two bonded over their shared love for causing mischief. There wasn’t any reason for Roach to dislike him; not really anyway.
If it wasn’t for the fact that he somehow had managed to wrap Ghost around his little finger and it made Roach mad.
At first it had been as expected. Ghost stayed cold and aloof, but in a surprisingly short amount of time the selkie had managed to get Ghost to open up. They shared horrible dad jokes and were often seen working out together. It made Roach feel discarded, like he was good enough to be a friend when no one better was around. He was not sure if he was sad or angry or both, but he certainly felt some kind of way about it. He took a deep breath and visciously blew out a big smoke cloud.
Roach jumped when he suddenly heard someone say, “You should at least hold a fake cigarette when you do that.”
“Damn it, Garrick,” he wheezed out, when he saw who had snuck up on him. “Your stealth definitely improved since Price bit you.”
Gaz grinned, his newly enlarged canines glinting in the sunlight. “Yeah, it has it’s perks. Even if Price still can’t look at me without feeling guilty.”
“Sorry to hear that, mate.”
It had been a stupid accident. They had been on a rescue mission together with local police. One of the human officers had unwittingly challenged Price. Gaz had pushed the idiot away and got bitten in his stead. Price had been absolutely devastated and Ghost and Roach had finished the rest of the mission with just the coppers, while Price brought Gaz back to get treated for werewolf bites. Nothing could be done to stop him transforming of course, but at least he didn’t get an infection on top, bites could have quite deadly consequences.
“What’s got you into such a bad mood?” Gaz asked.
With a sigh, Roach gestured towards Ghost and MacTavish. “He’s sparring with him - again.”
“Jealous, bug?” Gaz winked at him.
“It’s not like that!” Roach grumbled. “We’re not together. We’re best mates. But since that selkie turned up, Ghost seems to have forgotten that I even exist.” He let out another angry smoke ring.
Gaz leant next to him against the wall and watched the two sparring partners for a while. “You know, Tav is not about come between you and Ghost. Also... I’m sure Ghost doesn’t even notice he’s head over heels for Tav. You of all people should know that he’s not exactly in tune with his emotions.” He waved a cigarette in front of him. “Here, can you help a buddy out?”
Roach let out a precise flame forward and Gaz was quick to light his smoke. “Thanks.”
They stood in silence for a bit until Roach finally relented. “Alright, I’ll talk to Ghost.”
Gaz beamed at him. “That’s the ticket. Communication is key.”
“Just like you and Price then?” Roach couldn’t resist the dig at his teammate.
Gaz grimaced. “It’s only been half a year since the bite...”
“Exactly! It’s been already half a year since the bite! You two need to stop dancing around each other and finally commit.” Roach said firmly. “You love him, don’t you?”
The nod was small but unmistakable.
“That’s what I thought.”
“Alright, I'll talk to Price, if you talk to Ghost.”
He was right, wasn’t he? He really should talk to Ghost. He sighed deeply. “Okay then, deal,” Roach held out his fist and Gaz bumped it.
“Deal.”
______________________________________
Later that day Roach lingered at the entrance to the dragon dens, not retreating to his own hoard - which consisted mainly of fantasy books, D&D figurines and video games - as he had done over the last weeks, but stayed in communal part of the warehouse.
It wasn’t a real cave, but after they had boarded up all the windows to make it nice and dark inside, it was cave-like enough to be a source of great comfort to both dragons. The warehouse and its individual partitions were large enough for them to go everywhere without having to shift to their human form.
After a while he heard the crunch of giant feet on gravel, before the gate slid open and Ghost entered their quarters.
He was a huge, even for a dragon, his black scales gleaming in the moonlight. What made him stand out however, were the tiny white scales on his face. Leucism was rare in dragons; what made Ghost even more special was the fact that the white was only on his face. Together with his dark brown, almost black eyes it made him look like his head was made of bone, leading to his nickname - Ghost.
He spotted Roach straight away and huffed questioningly at him.
I need to talk to you. Roach said.
Sounds ominous... Ghost had fully entered and stepped on the pressure plate that closed the gate. With another huff, he curled up on the floor. So talk. I’m listening.
Roach sighed. Well, here goes nothing. What’s up with you and the FNG?
Ghost lifted his head and looked at him in surprise. What do you mean? I’m showing him the ropes. We train together. There’s nothing ‘up with us’.
He sounded genuinely confused. Roach glared at him. Exactly! You are with that selkie constantly. This is the first time we have talked in weeks. He shook his head sadly. I don’t mind MacTavish, he’s probably a cool guy, but I miss my best friend.
Ghost stared at him with such a crestfallen expression that Roach almost laughed in spite of himself.
I’m sorry bug. I didn’t mean to sideline you, didn’t even notice I was doing it. He shuffled closer, nuzzling into Roach’s side placatingly.
Roach bumped into him, maybe a touch harder than he normally would, but still good naturedly. Don’t worry about it. Just don’t shut me out, okay?
I won’t, I promise. That was good enough for Roach.
They settled down next to each other, sharing body heat and after a while Roach started to purr. It was just like old times, but better, because neither of them was hurt. They had all their scales, talons and teeth even though Ghost was missing a horn. Those sadly didn’t grow back.
Right...
Roach needed to get a grip before he started to spiral. He purred louder and started to make a plan of befriending the stupid selkie himself. He should probably give the guy more credit, if Ghost liked him. It was not like Ghost was a people person after all. With that thought, sleep finally took him, blessedly keeping his mind away from the horrors of their past.
______________________________________
The next day at breakfast Roach grabbed his plate of eggs and bacon and sat down next to MacTavish. When a strange smell, not usually associated with the first meal of the day assaulted his nose, he stared incredulously at the Selkie’s plate.
“What the hell is this?” He couldn’t help but ask.
“Kippers.” The selkie said with a broad grin. When Roach didn’t react, he continued, “Smoked herring.”
Roach nodded slowly. “Well, it would make sense for you to eat fish three times a day,” he managed.
That earned him a laugh. “It’s not only selkies that enjoy a good kipper for breakfast, but aye, it’s what Ah prefer.”
They headed out to training together and now that Roach didn’t try to focus on how annoyed he was that Ghost and MacTavish got along, he started to realise that the selkie was actually quite nice. He joked and laughed a lot, but he was also very competent at what he was doing. He had a great knowledge of different species and how to support them and was eager to learn more.
“Ghost already told me a lot about dragons, but I’d never met one before and you guys are still pretty mysterious,” he told Roach when they took a break for lunch.
“Dragons were always pretty rare.”
“To be honest, I was surprised that there are two of you on this team.”
Roach pondered how to respond to that. Him and Ghost were just... inseparable. Where one went, the other followed. They had met at the lowest point in both their lives, kept each other alive and at least marginally sane somehow and now they were brothers, because no one could understand them as well as the other did. He couldn’t explain all this to MacTavish though. He didn’t know the man well enough yet to open up that much.
“We went through some shit together,” he settled on in the end. “And now we are - a packaged deal. You don’t get one without the other. Thankfully Price could accept that.”
At that MacTavish stilled and gave Roach a slow stare. “Are you two...?” He twiddled his fingers in a funny way.
Even though he knew exactly what the selkie meant, Roach couldn’t resist the urge to string him along for a bit. “Are we what?” he asked with fake innocence.
MacTavish went an interesting shade of red and grit out, “Together. Like... in a relationship?”
It would be funny to let it go further, but at that moment Ghost came around the corner and Roach couldn’t bring himself to do that to him. So he laughed and said, “Nah, mate. We’re best friends, brothers even, but there’s nothing... romantic going on.”
Ghost stepped up with a deep frown. “What are you on about?”
“Nothing, nothing. Come, join us!”
They spent the rest of their lunch hour talking about nothing in particular and Roach noted how MacTavish kept glancing at Ghost and how he lit up like a Christmas tree whenever Ghost chuckled at one of his jokes. It was... actually quite cute to watch, now that he was included and no longer felt sidelined by the one man he had considered his rock ever since they had escaped the nightmare that was Roba’s ‘monster parts farm’.
He had to admit it was good to see Ghost happy and engaging with someone besides Roach. He had always been quiet and brooding and even though he liked Price and Gaz, he had never opened up to people easily, was slow to trust and always ready to put his protective walls back up at a moment’s notice.
This was good and he felt somewhat ashamed for letting his jealousy run away with him instead of just talking to Ghost sooner. He leant back and let the others carry the conversation, content in seeing his best mate thrive.
______________________________________
A few weeks later they were all gathered at the lake to practise rescues involving combinations of land, air and water manoeuvres. It had been going fairly well so far. Gaz and Price made an excellent team, had their shifting down to a T and could do it almost seamlessly to adapt to any possible situation.
The shift was more difficult for Roach and Ghost, since their full dragon forms were significantly larger than their human bodies, but they could do it fairly easily.
MacTavish had a bit of a problem with seamless shifts though. It was not that it took a lot of time or was painful. All he had to do was slip his pelt on or off. No, the problem was that the selkie was adamant that when he took his pelt off, it needed to be stashed somewhere safe. Which made some things tricky.
Apparently Price had envisioned MacTavish just throwing off his pelt as necessary during missions and was slightly taken aback by the fuss the selkie made about his sealskin.
“Look, Price, Ah’m sorry, but Ah either need to find a good hiding spot, or someone trustworthy to guard it. If someone gets their hands on ma pelt they can cause serious damage or even enslave me. Ah’m not aboot to let that happen.” MacTavish had said with a grave face.
“I understand, but sometimes we need to act fast and be flexible,” Price explained. “It’s not like we would deliberately put your pelt at risk.”
“That’s why Ah need to find a place to stash it, when Ah change back.”
Price sighed deeply, then nodded. “Right, we have to plan accordingly then. Now, go change so we can try some underwater rescues.”
MacTavish saluted sloppily, slipped his pelt on and suddenly a big leopard seal was flopped on the pebbles of the lake shore. Roach had never seen him in his seal form before and he had so admit it was quite impressive. His head had been so full of cute pup photos that he had totally forgotten seals had pretty big and sharp teeth. Still, he couldn't stifle a giggle at the way MacTavish rolled around, trying to face Price.
But the moment he was in the water, everything changed and there was no longer any doubt that seals were indeed agile predators when in their element.
They were well into their practice, when suddenly something red and burning came screeching over the lake and landed with a splash and a hiss about 30 meters from the shore.
MacTavish was off like a shot, gliding through the water and diving after whatever had crashed. A minute later he re-emerged clutching a black haired man to his chest and swiftly swimming to shore. Ghost, who had been standing closest to the water, kneeled down and checked if the stranger was breathing.
Thankfully he was, so Ghost snatched him up and brought him to the house.
Roach was not sure if that was a good idea. The guy certainly was some kind of shifter - a phoenix maybe, considering the short glimpse he had gotten before he had vanished below the surface of the water - but not all shifters were trustworthy and while he could agree that yes, that guy obviously needed help, Roach resolved to stay cautious until they knew more.
______________________________________
As it turned out, he needn't have worried. Once Price got a closer look at the man, he recognised him immediately. His name was Nikolai and he wasn't a phoenix, but a Russian firebird. Apparently the difference was small but important and Price impressed on them to never call him a phoenix if they liked all their limbs attached.
Laswell and her wife arrived to check Nikolai over and what they found was shockingly familiar. The man was severely malnourished, dehydrated and showed injuries consistent with being chained up and tortured.
After they patched him up, he was set up in one of the guest rooms with an IV for fluids and a roster for someone to stayed with him at all times. Price volunteered to take the first shift and shooed everyone else out of the door.
The rest of them gathered in the living room and Laswell explained how she and Price knew Nikolai. They went way back and had been friends for a few hundred years, but hadn't heard from him in a while. It was not uncommon for the firebird to roam sparsely populated areas and stay out of sight, so they hadn't worried just yet. Seeing him like this clearly rattled both of them.
Ghost said what Roach was thinking out loud: "He looks like he was in the hands of a monster farmer." His voice was a low growl of pure venom.
"If that's true," MacTavish mused, "there will be more victims held wherever he escaped from. Let's hope he can tell us where, when he wakes up."
"We need to find those bastards and free their victims." Gaz stated matter of factly, but it was clear in the way he held himself, that he was itching to go and help.
Laswell nodded. "As soon as Nik is fit to tell us what happened, we can make a plan. We won't let whoever is stuck there rotting in a monster farm for longer than necessary."
Roach nodded grimmly. Humans could be unbelievable cruel as he knew all too well. "And they call us monsters…" he muttered.
______________________________________
That night Roach couldn't sleep. After he had done his stint of sitting with Nikolai - who had shown no signs of waking up - he changed and went into their warehouse-cave, curling up around his hoard, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't shake the memories that kept sneaking out of the shadows. Of Ghost's pained cries when his scales were pried off one by one. The searing, biting cold, every time they injected him with a drug to keep his fire from bursting forth. The agony when they pulled his claws and teeth out… They even collected his tears for some insane customer who believed bathing in dragon tears would make them invulnerable.
He couldn't stand the thought of others being stuck in a place like that.
With a sigh he realised that rest was out of the question for tonight, so he transformed back and went outside. While pondering whether he should go for a walk or lie down at the lake shore and watch the stars, he noticed two figures sitting shoulder to shoulder at the water's edge, apparently he wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep.
He carefully crept closer, not wanting to disturb whoever it was, but too curious to not go and check.
Roach almost gave himself away, at the shock of recognising them though. It was Ghost and MacTavish, cuddled up close and talking quietly.
Even though he had promised himself not to stand between them, his first reaction was acute hurt at the sight of his best friend snuggled up with the newcomer. He wanted to run over, squeeze himself in the middle and hug Ghost all to himself. He knew his friend must be equally upset, so it was only right that they should comfort each other!
It took him quite some time to talk himself out of that impulse, but when he turned to leave them alone he must have made a noise, because the other two turned and looked at him.
Roach stood frozen, like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, afraid that this was the moment he lost his best friend forever.
Before he could command his feet to move however, Ghost reached out and waved for Roach to come closer. "Can't sleep either?" he asked quietly.
Roach nodded.
"Come on then, give us a cuddle," Ghost said and when Roach peeked carefully at MacTavish, the man smiled warmly, so he walked up and collapsed on Ghost's free side, only to be immediately pulled into a bear hug.
After what felt like a really long time, they all lay down with Ghost in the middle and Roach and MacTavish plasterd to either side of him.
"'s good I'm so big, otherwise you two 'd smother me," he grumbled, but Roach could hear that he was smiling.
"Ah'm so sorry ye two had to go through this," MacTavish said softly, "But Ah'm glad ye had each other."
Ghost pulled them both impossibly closer. "So am I. Wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Roach."
"Same," Roach agreed.
They fell quiet after that, enjoying the easy companionship and one by one, they fell asleep. Morning found them in a weird pile of limbs, halfway on top of each other and more at peace than Roach would have thought possible last night.
______________________________________
Gaz was the one who called them back to the house with the promise of breakfast and the good news that Nikolai had woken up and was currently speaking to Price and Laswell. He was giving them suspicious looks all throughout the meal and Roach honestly didn't know what to tell him.
All three of them had been tangled up together for warmth and comfort. He had been laying across Ghost's broad chest with MacTavish's face smushed against his side and when Gaz woke them up, they had to awkwardly sort out their limbs before they could actually get up. Roach had no idea how to feel about all of that.
Soap was busy shovelling down his kippers in record time, Ghost was sipping his tea staring holes into the air while Gaz was trying to pry out of Roach why they had been cuddled up on the lake shore.
"I was scared that something bad had happened when I couldn't find you in either of your beds," he stated. An obvious attempts to guilt trip them into giving up information. The spot they had been lying in could be seen from the front door of the house. He would not have had to check the warehouse at all.
With a sigh Roach said, "You know about Ghost and me. Is it so hard to believe that we couldn't sleep knowing others are held captive by scum like that?"
Gaz shrugged and gave up on fishing to Roach's relief. He was confused enough as it was. Yesterday night all he had wanted was the familiar warmth of Ghost to make him feel less alone and at the mercy of his memories. But now that he thought about it, wasn't it weird that they had all lain together? There sure as hell was romantic tension between those two and it made Roach unsure where he stood after ending up in a cuddle pile with them, or if it even meant anything at all.
He was shaken out of his thoughts by Price entering the kitchen, closely followed by Nicolai and the Laswells.
Gaz jumped up to make room at the table and to fetch more tea and coffee. Ghost and MacTavish moved closer together to make room for more chairs.
Once everyone was seated and had their share of food and hot drinks, Price cleared his throat. "As you all know, we have suspected for a while that there is a new monster farm operating somewhere in Russia. Nik here had the misfortune of getting caught by some of their henchmen. Luckily for both him and us he managed to escape and can provide us with valuable intel to shut the operation down for good. I know, we usually don't talk shop over breakfast, but I guess we can all agree this is a special case. According to the information Nik shared it is safe to assume that this is an even bigger operations than the Mexican case fifteen years ago." Here, he looked gravely at Ghost and Roach. "If Nik's estimate is right, we are talking about well over 100 prisoners of all kinds of origin and species."
A shocked muttering went around the table. Roach stared at Ghost in horror, this was so much worse than what he had feared.
"They have set up on a remote island in the arctic circle. It's well hidden and hard to get to. We have to assume that they increased security since Nik's escape, so even though we are all rearing to go, we need some more intel to properly plan our approach. To speed things up a bit, we will leave for Norway immediately and set up a temporary base with a settlment of bear shifters I know from shared training camps. They are trustworthy and won't be happy to have monster farmers operating in the Barents Sea, almost right on their door step. From there Ghost, Roach and MacTavish are going to scout out the islands until we can properly pin down their location." At this Price pinned Ghost with a hard stare. "I know you are chomping at the bit to get the prisoners out, but you are not to engage alone. Am I understood?"
Ghost grit his teeth, but nodded. "Copy that, Price."
"Right," the Captain confirmed, "Once we know the lay of the land, we can formulate a plan of attack. The Norwegians are going to help organise transport for the prisoners. When you are done with breakfast, go and get ready, we will ship out in two hours."
They all rushed through the rest of their meal and the cleanup, to be ready in time. Roach resolutely pushed all his confused feelings aside. No time for that now, they had a mission to get to.
______________________________________
König couldn't help the pained whimper, when another scale was pried off of his back. The metal of the muzzle they'd forced him into pressed painfully against his jaw. He heared Horangi growl in the background and hoped the Korean wouldn't try anything stupid. The last time Horangi had tried to fight their captors, they had almost killed him. König let himself drift, trying his best to ignore the pain and stay quiet. If he didn't show how hurt he truly was, Horangi would not try so hard to protect him and probably stay safe.
By the time he came back to his body, his muzzle was gone, but so were most of the scales on his back. He shifted carefully, trying to assess the damage, when a growly voice said, "Stay still, I'm trying to clean away the blood."
Only now did he feel the patch of warmth close to his neck and the careful caress of a tiger's tongue, licking his wounds. "," he sighed and let Horangi get on with it. It took a long time and that alone told him enough about how many scales they had ripped out this time. He didn't want to see himself like this, so he kept his head down and stared at the wall of their cell.
More pained cries came from somewhere down the corridor, but König had lost the will to care about anyone besides Horangi quite some time ago.
The tiger curled up close to his head. He looked kinda funny, his hair started growing back and he was covered in light blue fuzz instead of his usual glowing deep blue colour. König nudged him. "Do you think der durchgeknallte russische Vogel was able to escape?"
Horangi nuzzled his head against König. "I hope so. He did burn those guards to crisps, it would be a shame if they'd killed him for his efforts."
"He said he had friends who could get us out…" König really didn't want to hope, but the firebird had sounded to sure and he did manage to avoid the injection that kept König's fire banked. He hated the feeling of wanting to burn something to the ground but when he opened his mouth nothing came out. It had been such a strange mix of relief and envy when the firbird had burst into flames in the opposite cell. Finally being close to fire again had been soothing, but the fact that it wasn't his own spoiled the effect somewhat. "," he muttered sleepily.
"So do I," Horangi grumbled, pressing himself even closer.
König didn't have the energy to actually sing, but he knew they were both comforted by music, so he started to hum, thinking longingly of home and how he really wanted to show Horangi where he was from. He didn't notice when his thoughts changed into wishful dreams that would make waking up even more painful.
______________________________________
Norway was cold. Don't get him wrong, Roach knew that the UK was far from a tropical paradise, but the north coast of Norway was something else. The sun might not set up here close to the North Cape, but it sure as hell wasn't doing much heating either, provided they could even see it through all that fog.
At least the colony of bear shifters Price was friends with lived in caves large enough to even accommodate two dragons. Not that it needed to, Roach was curled up on his own.
MacTavish seemed to thrive in the cold and had headed down to the beach as soon as everyone else was settled. He had flopped down on the pebbles in his seal form, listening to the waves and looked as happy as anything. Ghost, the big madman that he was, had decided to stay there with him, despite the cold.
Roach had to admit that it looked cute to see the big, black dragon curled around the leopard seal who looked tiny by comparison, but after ten minutes on that windy beach with the cold spray from the ocean he decided to leave them to it. No amounts of cuddles were worth this. So he had grabbed his phone took a picture of them for blackmail material and headed back towards the bear den, where he was currently trying to fall asleep. Only sleep didn't come. Tomorrow they would fly out to find where the monster farm was hidden and gather as much intel as they could.
He knew he needed the rest, but his brain didn't seem to get the memo.
After he shuffled around again in vain to try and get comfortable enough, he opened his eyes and found Gaz staring back at him.
He and Price had been curled up on the opposite side of the guest cave. Price was fast asleep, snoring lightly, but Gaz had sat up and when he found Roach looking at him, he came over.
"You alright, mate?"
Roach grumbled for a moment, then changed back to human. "I don't really know," he admitted as soon as he had his mouth and vocal cords back under control.
Gaz just looked at him, ready to give him all the time he needed.
"You know… maybe the jealousy thing was closer to the truth than I wanted it to," he said eventually. "We haven't talked about that night yet, but…" he sighed deeply, "It felt good being with them in a cuddle pile. And I don't know what to make of it. Or even what to tell them, since I don't know what it is that I want."
It was quiet for a while, then Gaz said in a carefully neutral tone, "You know that a romantic relationship doesn't have to be sexual too, right?"
Roach stared at him. "Isn't that what everyone assumes?"
"Most people do, but in the end it's down to what all the people involved are comfortable with. What you and Ghost have might be a close friendship, it might also be a queerplatonic relationship. It's up to you guys. It's also up to you to see how Tav fits in there. It's okay to have more than one partner and it's normal not to want the same from all of them."
This was all new information to Roach. His experience with romantic relationships was more or less non-existent. He knew in theory that there were straight and queer couples and neither of them had sounded all that appealing to him. Ghost was special, not only because of their shared past, but also because he was (had been?) the only person who's touch never got overwhelming for Roach.
But being with Ghost and MacTavish had turned out to be surprisingly okay. More than okay even. He had felt good and if those idiots weren't seeping in the cold spray at the beach, he would probably be with them again right now.
"Queerplatonic," he muttered. "That's quite a mouthful."
Gaz laughed quietly. "You don't have to use that term for whatever is going on with you and Ghost and maybe Tav, but you can use it for research and once you know what it is you want, you can talk to the others."
That sounded like good advice and while Gaz eventually went back to snuggle up to Price and joined him in a duet of snores, Roach fished out his phone and started down a research rabbit hole.
By the time morning rolled around, he was pretty sure that he had always misinterpreted his and Ghost's relationship. The only question now was: would he be able to scrounge up the courage to talk to him about it? Maybe it sounded too much like Roach wanted to separate him and MacTavish, when that wasn't really the case anymore.
He sighed when he changed back to his dragon form to get ready for their recon mission. Whatever was going to happen with regards to their private life would have to wait until after they had eliminated the monster farm and got everyone out.
______________________________________
The two dragons stood in front of the cave, MacTavish sat on Ghost's back, his seal skin wrapped tightly around him against the cold, but not yet fully changed. It would be hard to stay on a dragon's back without hands to hold on.
"Remember, this is recon only. If you're not back within three days, we'll assume you got captured and launch a rescue. Any last minute questions?" Price looked at each of them in turn. They all shook their heads. "Alright then, off you go. Good luck!"
The flight north went without a hitch. The weather was nasty, with low hanging clouds and the occasional rain or snow shower. It was no fun to fly through, for their purposes however a lot better than clear skies, so Roach tried his best not to complain even though he hated flying in such conditions. When they got to the first island of the archipelago where the monster farm was supposed to be, they made a couple of flyovers and when they were sure this one was deserted, they touched down at the beach.
Roach and MacTavish both changed and Roach helped the other two to wear their specialised communication devices. Ghost and Roach didn't need them due to dragon telepathy, but Ghost had insisted that one of them should be able to stay in touch with MacTavish.
The comms check revealed that Gaz' clever adjustments worked. The seal swam and dived a couple of times, but the device stayed on and Ghost recieved him loud and clear. Then it was time for them to split up in their search. MacTavish vanished below the waves, while Ghost and Roach flew off in opposite directions.
Roach tried to stay hidden in the clouds as much as possible as he swept over the sea and islands, keeping an eye out for signs of buildings or suspicious activities. After a couple of hours of finding nothing whatsoever, Ghost checked in. Neither he, nor MacTavish had found anything so far. Roach was debating a short rest, when he saw a small boat making it's way through the waves.
Ghost! He reached out to the other dragon. I have activity close to two islands. It's a small boat, way too small to be here without a bigger ship or a base somewhere close. Looks like a patrol boat.
He included his coordinates and after a while Ghost let him know that MacTavish was on the way towards his location. Roach shadowed the boat from a distance but veered off course as soon as Ghost let him know that the seal was right on it's keel. It was safer to stay hidden as much as possible.
Ghost and him met up on a smaller island, waiting for MacTavish to call in with an update. They settled down next to each other, so Roach could listen in and sure enough, only half an hour later, there was a series of clicks letting them know the seal had found something.
They regrouped a short while later to properly exchange intel. Ghost made a small fire behind some rocks and the three of them huddled around it in their human forms. MacTavish's seal skin was steaming as it dried while the fish he caught for all of them cooked, making Roach's stomach rumble.
The monster farm was on the big island the patrol boat had been circling. The selkie had found a dock and spied the entrance to the compound from there, but hadn't gone any closer to avoid detection. They agreed to spend another day to do a flyover, note down the patrol patterns and anything else they could find before going back and hashing out a plan of attack with Price. Roach felt a strange mix of anxiety and anticipation now that they were so close to actually freeing the prisoners.
______________________________________
They made it back to the bear shifter cave late in the evening of day two. MacTavish was prepared to take the third day to confirm the patrol patterns, but Ghost had been almost as impatient as Roach and had decided they knew enough and should go back to plan their attack.
They sat together with the leader of the Norwegians and Nikolai. Ghost and MacTavish giving a detailed report of what they had found, while Price marked everything out on the map.
Roach and Ghost would be responsible for taking out the patrol boats, while MacTavish would infiltrate the dock and give them the okay once all the guards there were dead and it was safe for the ships to land. Price, Gaz and Nikolai would be on the first of the Norwegian boats, while the others stayed on stand-by to transport the prisoners to safety once the facility was in their hands.
"Right," Price sat back and looked at them. "Go get a few hours of sleep, then we'll head out on the boats."
With that the briefing ended and Roach filed out after the others.
They all packed up their gear to stow on the boat, since they had to shift at least twice throughout the mission. MacTavish yawned loudly and slumped against the furs that lined the cave floor. "Don't think Ah'm heading out to the beach tonight," he muttered, then looked up at Roach, "If that's okay with ye, that is."
"Don't be daft, MacTavish, of course it's fine." Roach blurted out. He took a deep breath to ask if he could join them again, but couldn't bring himself to actually say the words.
Ghost, as always, came to his rescue. "You're welcome to join us," he said.
And to Roach's surprise, MacTavish nodded eagerly. "Aye, come on!"
That's how they ended up cuddled together, similar to how they had been on the lake shore, only this time MacTavish threw his seal skin over all of them. "To keep you lot warm," as he stated.
Roach was confused. "Erm… isn't it forbidden to touch a selkie's pelt?" he wondered out loud.
MacTavish lifted his head off Ghost's should to look at him. "Not forbidden as such, there is a certain etiquette around it. The one thing that everybody seems to ken is that a selkie gives their skin to their partner to make a marriage official. Some people have spun from that that if ye steal a someone's skin, they have to marry ye, but that's a load of shite. It's just horribly impolite and will probably get ye killed once the selkie in question catches ye. A bit like stealing from a dragon's hoard Ah imagine. But helping friends keep warm, is just something we do."
With that he snuggled back into Ghost's side and left Roach reeling with this new information. Friends… Yeah, he really needed to talk to them once that mission was done.
______________________________________
The Norwegian ship had reached the jump point. Since it was too small to hold two grown dragons on deck, Ghost had gone first, but not before making sure that MacTavish had made it safely into the sea with his pack of gear and weapons. Then it was time for Roach to change and go after his own target.
He took off and swooped low over the water, his grey scales almost indistinguishable from the waves. With a few strong beats of his wings he closed in on his target, the people in the small boat oblivious to the fiery death sneaking up on them. He almost felt sorry for them, until he reminded himself of all the innocent creatures currently being held against their will and tortured for the financial gain of some and the superstitions of many. Anger coursed through him and when he was close enough, his fire was extra hot as it hit the boat, vaporising most of it's hull and it's occupants instantly.
He circled over the now empty stretch of sea, checking if there were any more boats they might have overlooked, but all he could see were slate grey waves and a cloudy sky.
When he returned to the ship, Ghost was already there in his human form, standing next to Price. Roach landed and shifted back too. "Target eliminated," he reported as soon as he stepped up to them.
Price nodded sharply. "Good work. Now all we have to do is wait for the go from MacTavish."
Ghost handed Roach a headset. He was cool and professional as always, but Roach could see a tension in the way he held himself, that was usually not there. "He'll be fine," he said softly. "Have you seen the manoeuvres he can do under water? He's about as easy to catch as a bar of soap."
To his delight, Ghost snorted.
Later, when MacTavish called in, Ghost answered with, "Loud and clear, Soap."
There was a ringing silence, then the selkie said, "What?"
"Your new callsign. I'm Ghost, Roach is Roach and you are Soap."
"Dare Ah ask who came up with that shite name?"
"Nope. And it's not shite, it's very fitting."
"Children…" Price cut in. "Less chatter, more work. What's the status, Soap?"
Roach sniggered, earning himself a scathing look from Price.
"Ah have eyes on the dock. It's just like yesterday, only two guards. Ah can get rid of them easily."
"Go ahead then, just make sure no one can sound the alarm."
"Copy."
A few more minutes of tense silence followed, then, "The guards are dealt with. It's safe to dock. I repeat, it's safe to dock."
Price signalled to the Norwegian captain, who set course for the monster farm's pier.
Roach and Ghost geared up, everyone else checked their weapons one more time, while the crew made sure to belay the ship as quietly as possible. Everyone filed down the gangway, where they were greeted by a grinning Soap.
"Well done everyone." Price said. "But remember, that this was the easy part." He waved to Gaz, Nik and a couple of bear shifters, "We're headed to the backdoor, you wait for my signal."
A chorus of "Copy." Sounded from the group around Ghost who was assigned to breach the main entrance to the facility.
"Roach and me will take point," Ghost said. Dragons could use their fire even in human form, but since it was a lot weaker that way, it would take both of them to melt down the door.
They advanced as soon as Price sent the go ahead. Stealth was no longer an option. They needed to get in fast and clear all the hostiles before they could start killing their prisoners. In no time they had the door glowing red-hot, Ghost kicked at it once and it fell inside. They were greeted by bullets, but Roach filled the room with smoke, giving them enough cover to rush in and get to work.
Roach was surprised at how little resistance they faced. An operation like this should have quite a lot of men on guard, to keep everyone in line as well as additional personnel to pack and sort the 'goods'. He shivered at the thought. Bloody monster farmers!
However, after killing the handful of guards at the entrance, all the rooms they cleared on the way to the cells were empty.
Ghost and him shared a glance. "I've got a bad feeling about this," Roach muttered.
Ghost nodded. "Stay sharp everyone!"
When they rounded the corner to the cellblock entrance, they were greeted by a pile of crates and other junk blocking the way. Roach tried peering around or through gaps in the clutter, and faced with a hail of bullets quickly jumped back.
"Ah guess we found where they all went," Soap muttered grimly.
"We could try smoke again," Roach suggested.
Ghost shook his head, "It would give them as much cover as it would get us."
Soap, who was peering through a gap between two boxes shouted, "They are trying to get out of a skylight!"
Roach cursed trying to peer around the other two, while Ghost was relaying the news to Price, asking how far off they were. He was distracted by the conversation and by the time Roach noticed what was going on, one of the boxes was already tumbling to the ground and Soap vaulted over the barricade.
There were shots raining down on him, but the mad selkie somehow managed to dodge them all, shooting into the crowd gathered at the ladder leading up to the skylight. Roach quickly pulled up his own rifle, trying his bet to give Soap some cover, thinning out more of the hostiles in the process, then made his own way over the crates.
Together they had managed to neutralise most of the hostiles still in the room by the time Soap reached the ladder. One of the monster farmers was right at the top, fiddling with the lock on the window. The seklie jumped up the ladder in record time and managed to hold onto the foot of the man, who was already halfway out of the skylight.
With an angry grunt, the man worked his arm holding a gun back inside, aimed roughly towards Soap and fired, followed by a kick with the other foot. Roach heard a pained cry and the sickening crunch of a body hitting the ground hard.
"Johnny!" Ghost shouted behind him, racing towards the selkie.
Roach couldn't bring himself to look. Soap was likely dead, if not from the shot, then from the fall, it was well over five meters from floor to ceiling and he had been almost at the top.
He didn't hesitate, he jumped up and grabbed onto the rungs of the latter, right as the hostile's feet vanished through the skylight. Below him, he could hear Ghost frantically assessing Soap's status, calling for him to open his eyes. He blocked it out, it was something to deal with later. Now he was focussing on racing up the ladder and getting the only frucker who had gotten away.
There were footprints leading across the roof, but he couldn't see the guy. He must have jumped down towards the dock already. Without thinking, Roach shifted. He took to the air, speeding after the target.
The man didn't even make it halfway to the docks when Roach had already caught up with him. A precise blast of fire stopped him in his tracks. He turned around and lifted his gun, but before he could pull the trigger Roach was on him, grabbed him in his claws and soared upwards. The man screamed and writhed in his grip until he realised the hight and suddenly clung onto Roach with a death grip.
When the dragon deemed himself being up far enough to ensure death, he brought his legs together sharply, startling the man into letting go and loosened his own grip. Then he watched with cold satisfaction, as the monster farmer plummeted and hit the ground in a puff of snow and ice.
He made his way back down to check, just to be thorough. The man was dead.
______________________________________
König was roused from a fitful sleep by the unmistakable sound of gunshots. He took a while to just breathe and listen, then a flash of firey red wings zoomed past their cell.
He nudged Horangi with his snount. "Wake up, , something is going on."
Before the tiger could do more than crack open one eye, there was another commotion outside. König whipped his head around and saw a couple of dark figures rush through the corridor. Neither of them looked like the usual guards. Horangi carefully got to his feet and they both edged as close to the cell door as their chains would allow, but the men were gone. All they could hear was shouts and cursing coming from the entrance to cell block.
"Are they under attack? Maybe the mad Russian did manage to get help after all," Horangi mused.
"Maybe," König conceded. "But it's better not to get our hopes up. Maybe it's just a rival operation trying to take us away from Makarov."
Shouts and questions were coming from other cells. "Settle down!" König boomed, and the commotion died away. They could hear more footsteps and voices coming from the entrance, then someone switched on the lights in the cells.
Out of pure instinct, Horangi backed away from the door and König moved to hide him.
A man appeared at the cell door. He wore a silly hat and a quite impressive beard as well as a plate carrier and a rifle. König growled. Whoever these new guys were, he didn't intend to make it easy for them. The man stared at him for a moment, then he said, "Hello there, my name is John Price from the , we have dealt with the people who held you captive. Currently my men are trying to figure out how to open the cell doors."
König stared at him. "You're… getting us out?"
"Yes. That's why we are here. Do you need medical attention?"
"None of us are in particularly good shape. I don't know about the people in the other cells, but Horangi and me are not in any urgent need at the moment."
"Right, I'm going from cell to cell to let everyone know to avoid confusion once we get the doors open. Don't worry, you'll be out in no time, there are boats waiting to take you to Norway and from there we can make arrangements for everyone to get home."
With that the man - Price - headed towards the next cell, leaving König is a state of absolute shock. How long had they been here? He couldn't remember, time was a very strange beast here in these dark cells, away from any daylight and with no routine that could help distinguish between day and night, let alone keep count.
A paw settled on his side and Horangi let out a small questioning sound. He looked around at the tiger and for a moment all they did was look into each other's eyes, trying to process. Then the paw was followed by an affectionate nudge with a head and Horangi muttered lowly, "Never thought I'd see the day…"
König curled around him, listening to Price informing the other prisoners about what was going to happen. Then there was the telltale sound of the cell door unlocking and he flinched back automatically. So far that sound had never preceded anything good. This time however there were no guards with syringes and cattle prods, but a tall man with dark skin and a baseball cap, smiling broadly.
"Hey there, I'm Kyle," he introduced himself. "I can get you out of these chains and then show you over to the boats. Do you think you can walk?"
"Keine Ahnung, erm… I mean, no idea. We can't shift back, it will take a while for the drugs to wear off."
"That's alright, let's deal with those chains first."
He got out a set of lockpicks and got to work. A short while later König and Horangi were both free and staggering after Kyle. When they stepped over the threshold of the compound, he would have burst into tears had he been in his human form. Horangi had glued himself to König's side and together they slowly made their way towards the ship that would finally take them away from this hell hole. It would probably take quite some time until that fully sunk in. Freedom.
______________________________________
After confirming the monster farmer's death, Roach made his way back to the compound. He was worried what he would find though. The image of Soap falling off the ladder kept playing in his mind like a loop. He heard the horrible sound of his body hitting the floor and the desperate cry from Ghost over and over.
When he rounded the corner, he saw a group of people rushing out of the front door, two of them carrying a stretcher. He instantly recognised Ghost and the Norwegian medic who held up an IV bag, hurrying along.
Roach quickly caught up with them. "How is he?"
Ghost didn't react at all, too focused on Soap, but the medic looked over. "The bullet hit his right shoulder, it needs to be removed, he hit the ground very had, so maybe we're talking about a cracked skull, impossible to say without any imaging, at least there's no bleeding from the ears, that's a good sign his left arm and leg are broken in several places. He's lucky he's alive at all."
Roach knew that he should probably turn back and help Price and Gaz getting the prisoners out, but one look at both Ghost and Soap made him stay and run along. It was a long way back and someone needed to be there for Ghost while the medics looked after Selkie.
Soap was rushed into the infirmary of the ship and a runner went to the captain to tell them they had a critically wounded man on board and needed to leave immediately. All they could do on board was trying to keep the selkie stable, he needed to get to a hospital asap. Ghost sat beside Soap all tensed up, focused on the man's unusally pale face, his hand laying next to his arm on the matress, not quite touching, afraid to cause him any more pain, but not able to stay away either.
With a sigh, Roach sat down next to Ghost and watched them for a while, thinking about what to say to comfort his best friend, if there even was anything he could say… "You know I won't stand in your way, right?" Was what came out in the end.
Ghost blinked a few times, before looking over at Roach. "What are you on about?"
"You and Soap are a thing, yeah? You don't have to include me like you did the other night. I'll always be your friend, but…" he trailed off, not sure how to carry on.
"But?" Ghost stared at him with a strange look in his eyes.
"I… I realised that I was jealous and… dunno if either of you would even want that, but Gaz gave me a lot to think about. Apparently that kind of thing is a lot more common in werewolf circles, but I've researched some stuff and…" He stopped again in the light of Ghost's glare. He knew he wasn't making much sense.
"What is a lot more common with werewolves?" Ghost growled.
Roach took a few deep, calming breaths. "Polyamory, or… triads in our case," he said so quietly that he wasn't sure Ghost could understand him over the beeping of Soap's monitors. He cautiously peered up at Ghost and saw him frown. "I know now is probably not a good time to bring this up, but I have been thinking about it so much and wanted to talk to both of you after the mission, but now," he shrugged and gestured towards Soap helplessly, "I just couldn't keep it to myself anymore. I'm sorry."
Ghost didn't say anything and the quiet stretched on and on until Roach felt he couldn't take it anymore, but before he could give in to the foolish impulse to fill the silence with even more stammering nonsense, Ghost finally spoke. "It's not only werewolves, you know."
"What?" He looked at the other man in confusion.
"Johnny told me about it. Quite a few selkies live with more than one partner."
That didn't really clear up the confusion. "Why did you guys talk about that?"
Ghost again sunk into a brooding silence, staring at Soaps still form. Roach kept quiet, knowing that words were sometimes hard for his friend. Then, just when he had resigned himself to not getting an answer after all, Ghost finally said, "Do you remember that night you talked to me about feeling sidelined?"
Roach nodded, unsure where this was going to go.
"I talked to Johnny about it. About us, about how you felt, how I felt and he started to explain how selkies do relationships. It's very different from dragons and most humans, when it comes down to it. He wanted all of us to talk, so see what you'd think about… us." He shook his head and looked at Roach. "I was confused though, I had never seen our relationship as romantic in any way."
Now it was time for Roach to nod. "Yeah, neither did I, but when I started to do my research I came across the term 'queer platonic relationships'. I'm not sure I understand it a hundred percent, but it's kinda like… there is no sexual attraction, and not necessarily a romantic one, but there is still a deep commitment to a partner or partners. Like, wanting a future together, maybe live together, feel responsible for that person or persons and the more I read about it, the more I felt this is what we two already have, even without realising it."
He took a deep breath and continued, "I never had any sexual feelings for anyone and I don't think I ever will, but I don't want to stay in your way if you do. So… if you want to include Soap into whatever this thing between us is going to be, I'm happy for you. Both of you."
A wry smile stole itself onto his lips and he added, "And if there are any more cuddle piles in our future, I'd be happy to join. Just… keep it above the belt when I'm there."
Ghost huffed a small laugh that was a bit wet around the edges and quickly wiped his hand over his eyes, looking back at Soap. "Now all he has to do is wake up, so we can tell him the good news," he whispered.
"He will," Roach said, trying to cover up his own fear for Ghost's benefit. "He will."
Their hands found each other and they held on for dear life for the rest of the journey.
______________________________________
The hospital room was quiet apart from the beeping of the monitors when Roach and Ghost were finally led in to see Soap. The wait had been agonising, a lot worse in a way than the journey that took them here in the first place. As soon as they had arrived in the harbour, Soap was moved into an ambulance and rushed off to the hospital. By the time they had arrived, he had already gone into surgery to fix all his broken bones and remove the bullet from his shoulder.
Thankfully his skull was not fractured but they could not determine the extent of any brain injuries until he woke up. Roach was hoping it wouldn't be too bad. Soap had been wearing a helmet after all.
The nurse who had brought them in quickly checked Soap's vitals, before leaving them alone.
Ghost and Roach pulled their chairs up to Soap's bedside and settled down. After a while, Ghost's head sank against his shoulder and quiet snores accompanied by little puffs of smoke emanated from the exhausted dragon.
Roach leant his head against Ghost's, looked over at Soap and whispered, "I hope you'll wake soon, mate," before his eyes too slipped closed.
______________________________________
"If ye have to cuddle without me, at least have the decency of doing it somewhere Ah cannae see."
Roach startled awake. When he opened his eyes, Soap was staring back at him. He was no longer deathly pale, and even though he still looked a bit dazed, his lips were turned up a bit into a small smile.
Before he could do anything else however, Ghost darted forward and placed a soft kiss on Soap's forehead. "Johnny!" He breathed a sigh of relief. "How are you feeling?"
"Ah'm not sure. Everything hurts, but probably not as bad as it should, considering."
"So you remember everything?"
"Ah remember chasing that fucker up a ladder…"
"That's about it." Roach piped up. "He shot you in the shoulder and you fell."
"Did ye get him?"
"Yeah, I did."
"That's grand. What about the prisoners?"
"They were all freed. Some are here in the hospital. Others are already well enough to give their statements, before being sent home."
At this moment a nurse came in and bustled over. "Good to see you are awake Mr. MacTavish, the doctor will be over soon, but from your conversation I take it memory loss is minimal?"
"Aye," Soap confirmed.
"That's a very good sign. Any nausea, pain, headaches?"
"Ma heid feels weird and everything hurts, but I dinnae feel like boking."
"Good. I'll get you something for the pain and put a bowl within reach just in case." With that she wandered off again only to return a short while after with the doctor in tow.
They did some tests and went over the scans, explaining to Soap all about his broken bones and the gunshot wound, expected recovery time and the need for PT and proper pain management. By the time they were gone, Soap was exhausted, but before he fell asleep he muttered, "Ye got to tell me all aboot the rest and what's up with ye guys."
Roach and Ghost looked at each other, then back at a sleeping Soap and smiled. He would be okay, that was the main thing. They would figure everything else out in time.
______________________________________
A few months later
"This is the dragon warehouse, there's one cave free since Ghost and Roach are now sharing the other," Price explained, before turning towards the tiger. "Would you like a room at the house?"
König and Horangi shared a look. "No," the tiger said firmly, "We will share."
"That's alright then, I'll leave you to settle in." With that Price wandered off, König noticed the small smile hidden behind the man's beard.
He looked more closely at the artificial cave. It had been built for a much larger dragon than him, so there was no doubt that it would be comfortable. Horangi could build his own lair at the back, for moments when he needed time to himself.
"," he muttered under his breath.
"What?" Horangi asked asked distractedly. He was busy looking into all the hidden nookes and crannies that had held the hoard of the previous occupant.
". I'm glad we could join the 141."
"Yes, so am I. Shall we go for a stroll?"
"Good idea, let's familiarise ourselves with the area."
It still felt strange at times, to just be able to leave a room or a building and wander around. They had spent quite some time outside, just to feel the wind around their noses and breathe fresh air, that didn't smell of pain and fear, to walk, stretch, use their bodies the way they were meant to be used. Of course they still wore the scars and the mental ones would take quite some time and work to heal, but this… this was good. They not only had their freedom, they had a purpose. They could help others, be useful, something that would help the healing process, according to König's therapist.
They rounded the warehouse and then went towards the lake, because they both fancied a swim. Even if the water was still cold in the crisp spring weather, that was nothing to a Lindwurm and a tiger who grew up in areas with quite severe winters.
When they reached the shore, Horangi suddenly nudged him and pointed towards the right. König turned and couldn't keep the broad smile from his face at the sight before him. "We should take a picture," he whispered. Horangi nodded eagerly, got out his phone and quickly took a couple of shots. "Let's leave them to it, we can swim another time." The tiger said and held his phone up towards König. "This is the best one, I think."
The Lindwurm stopped and looked from the phone to the view in front of them: two dragons sleeping peacefully, their bodies wound around each other and the big fat seal snoring in the middle. If one hadn't been pitch black and the other slate grey, it would have been difficult to tell where one dragon ended and the other began, but their determination to keep their selkie safe from harm was undeniable, even in sleep. It was the cutest thing König had ever seen - apart from Horangi of course.
He leant down and softly kissed the tiger. "I think, we found the right place," he whispered. Horangi nodded and they turned and walked back to the warehouse together so neither of them saw the selkie opening his eyes and peer after them, his bright grin undeniable even on his seal face, before he nuzzled his partners and fell back asleep.