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“So like, what’s going on between them?” newly appointed agent Aaron asked his training officer Nyla Harper, struggling to keep up with her as she strode confidently down the halls of the L.A Division of the Supernatural Control Bureau.
“Going on with who?” Nyla said distractedly, “I thought I told you to only ask relevant questions.”
“This is relevant!” Aaron asserted before frowning, “At least I’m pretty sure it is, um…ma’am.”
Nyla looked at him, unimpressed. Though her facial expression seemed to say that they’d already wasted enough time on the topic he might as well get the answer.
“With Agents Bradford and Chen, ma’am what’s their…deal?”
To his surprise, Aaron watched his forever strict and serious training officer, the legendary Agent Harper, snicker at his question.
“You’re right, Five Minutes,” Nyla said once she’d stopped laughing, “That is relevant. And to answer the question, no one knows.”
“What do you mean no one knows?” Aaron said, his shock overriding the part of his brain that was terrified of disrespecting Nyla Harper. He quickly realized his mistake when he caught her glare, “Agent Harper, ma’am.”
Nyla rolled her eyes, but still answered his question.
“They’ve been partners for about a decade and are the best tactical duo we have. Their personal business is their own, and they’ve never given any indication that they feel like sharing that information with the rest of us. So yes Agent Thorsen, no one knows.”
“Right…” Aaron said trailing off, before remembering a page in his training manual about fraternizing between partnered agents, “Isn’t that against the rules? If they were…together?”
Nyla looked at him again, this time like he was particularly stupid, and he could feel himself wither.
“They took out three rakshasa nests out themselves last week alone. Would you mess with that type of success?”
“No ma’am,” Aaron said as Nyla started walking again, sensing that she was done discussing Bradford and Chen, “Thank you Agent Harper.”
Nyla rolled her eyes again.
“Shall we get back to your actual job, Five Minutes? Or do you want to waste more time?”
Sensing that now was not the time to say anything. Aaron just nodded before hurrying after Nyla.
For the next couple of weeks, Aaron had very little time to think about anything but his training. Nyla Harper was very clearly a legend for a reason and he barely had time to sleep, much less contemplate the personal lives of superior agents.
Aaron didn’t even consider Bradford and Chen again until he quite literally ran into Lucy Chen in the armoury at 2 am.
He’d been put on midnight shift for the amoury, because, in Nyla’s words, ‘Midnight shift is for trainees, you’ll be losing sleep anyway.’ Nyla had been right, he was exhausted.
“I’m sorry,” Aaron said sleepily before realizing who he was actually talking to and almost choking and stuttering out an apology, “I’m sorry! Agent Chen, ma’am. So sorry.”
“It’s okay!” Lucy said before smiling brightly, “Don’t worry about it. And you can call me Lucy. You’re Aaron right?”
“Uhhhh,” Aaron said while looking at her quizzically. There was absolutely no reason for someone as impressive as Lucy Chen to recognize him, much less know his name.
“Yes, Aaron Thorsen, trainee agent, ma’am-Lucy.”
“You’re Nyla’s new recruit right?” Lucy said laughing, “I can tell from the ‘ma’am’. I remember those days. It took me a while to get used to calling people ‘sir’.”
“Some would argue that you never really did get used to it,” a dry voice said from behind Lucy. Aaron's eyes widened as he realized that he was now in the presence of both Lucy Chen and Tim Bradford.
Lucy turned and stuck her tongue out at Tim, before making her way further into the armoury and making a beeline for concealable blades as Agent Bradford set his crossbow on the maintenance table and started making adjustments.
Aaron retreated to his corner, watching as the two clearly prepped for a hunt.
“Are you two going out?” Aaron asked, before realizing what that sounded like, and corrected himself as he watched Bradford’s eyebrow rise, “For a hunt, I mean?”
Lucy laughed again, the sound echoing through the room as she and Bradford exchanged an unreadable look.
“We’re going to try and deal with that demon infestation near Hollywood. We’re hoping to hit it around sunrise.”
Aaron nodded, though he didn’t quite understand what sunrise had anything to do with it. Demon infestations were just as annoying at any time of day. Clearly his confusion must have shown on his face because Bradford elaborated
“She’s stronger at sunrises and sunsets,” Bradford said as he checked the sights on his crossbow, “Siren hours.”
“TO Tim strikes again,” Lucy sing-songed from the other side of the room, “I told you that you couldn’t turn it off.”
Bradford rolled his eyes before slinging the crossbow over his shoulder and moving back to the door, keeping his eyes on Lucy.
“Clearly I don’t have a choice,” he said, as Lucy finally sheathed her last knife and moved towards the doorway, “If Harper is forgetting to teach her trainees about different creature types.”
“Be nice,” Lucy rolled her eyes, “He’s only been here a couple weeks. And did you just call me a creature?”
“Last time I checked that’s what we were defining sirens as.”
“Bye Aaron! Tell Nyla that she owes me that cookie recipe,” Lucy called back as they left the armoury, continuing to bicker, leaving Aaron feeling like he’d had an out of body experience.
Chen and Bradford were legendary. Everyone had a story about how they’d swooped in to save their life. Even Nyla did, and she was maybe the scariest person Aaron interacted with on a daily basis. They were your quintessential agents, and that interaction had been…normal. Agent Chen, or Lucy he guessed, had been beyond nice and Bradford had been…helpful. Gruff and brief, but he’d been helpful.
Behind all the stories and everything, they were just…normal people. Well, Aaron snorted as he survyed the highly questionable weaponry he was currently in charge of, as normal as any of them were.
Aaron hadn’t realized just how true the rumours about Lucy and Bradford were until he saw them in combat.
Him and Nyla had been partnered with two other TO and trainee pairs: a were-panther named Angela Lopez, her ghost trainee Jackson West, and empath John Nolan and his trainee, a witch named Celina Juarez, to perform what was supposed to be a relatively simple exorcism.
Both Aaron and Celina had never seen one in the field before, and their intel had said a singular B-Grade vengeful spirit, perfect for training.
“What’s the lesson for today, Five Minutes?” Nyla said as she pointed her flamethrower at an irate lamia trying to eat her face.
“Intel can be wrong!” he yelled back, pointing an extremely useless gun filled with iron bullets at another lamia, “Intel can be very wrong!”
They’d been not five minutes into the exorcism, when Angela Lopez had twitched and stopped Nolan guiding Celina through the cleansing ritual.
“Call back up,” was the last thing she’d said to Nyla before fully shifting into a large black panther, and all hell had broken loose.
Instead of a singular vengeful spirit, they’d stumbled onto a coven of very hungry and very murdery lamia who Did Not Want to Talk. Which meant not only were they extremely outnumbered, but they also did not have the equipment to deal with lamia. There were maybe three wooden stakes among them, and despite Angela’s literal claws and Nyla’s flamethrower, it was not looking good.
Case in point, Aaron could feel that it wasn’t going well. It hadn't really occurred to him how being a banshee would affect him in combat situations. He knew what it was like to be caught surprised by death, to have his wail explode out of him, but he hadn’t realized that maybe the sense of inevitable doom during a fight was worse.
He saw Celina go down, bleeding from a head wound, and the weight in his chest began to build.
Someone was going to die here.
He continued to shoot uselessly at lamia around her, wishing there was anything he could do beyond feel that her death was imminent, when suddenly the feeling was gone.
His need to wail had completely vanished. As he looked around confused he tried to figure out what had changed, and that was when he saw it..
Three wooden crossbow bolts embedded themselves in the three lamia surrounding Celina’s prone form, dissipating them instantly.
Just as Aaron was processing that he was engulfed by the most beautiful singing he’d ever heard in his life. Without realizing what he was doing he dropped his arms to his side and started to sway to the music, his thoughts becoming fuzzy and unfocused, barely registering as more crossbow bolts and thrown wooden stakes joined in with panther claws and the fire from the flamethrower, dropping the rest of the lamia in the room.
All that was important now was the singing.
And then as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped, leaving Aaron feeling dazed.
They’d gone from certain death to victory in about thirty seconds, and Aaron had somehow missed it. As he shook his head trying to get his bearings, he managed to focus on Nyla and Angela (who was a person again) as they both made their way to where Tim Bradford was standing in the corner of the room.
“You’re late, Bradford!” Lopez said, “Did you get stuck in traffic?”
“You’re the one who got stuck in a lamia nest, you’re lucky we were close by,” Bradford said, before directing his next question to where Nolan was helping Celina stand, “Is your trainee okay, Nolan?”
“Maybe concussed but she’ll be fine,” Nolan called back, “I think Lucy broke Thorsen though.”
It took Aaron a second to realize that they were talking about him, and then another second to realize he was still planted in the exact spot he’d been during the fight.
At the sound of her name Lucy looked up from where she’d been chatting idly with Jackson, before looking apologetically at Aaron
“Oh! Sorry!” She said sheepishly, “I don’t usually go that hard, but it wasn’t going great for you guys, and we wanted them as immobile as quickly as possible…”
“Uh no…” Aaron said, finally being able to speak again, though still confused as to what she was apologizing for, “It’s fine…”
Jackson seemed to take pity on him because the ghost’s next question slotted everything into place.
“First Siren Song? It’ll mess with your head for about ten minutes, then you’ll be fine. Especially with a siren as powerful as Lucy. She fucked me up when we were training together.”
Oh, Aaron suddenly realized, the singing. God, he was an idiot . Nyla was going to give him midnight armoury duty for weeks.
Just as he was contemplating his own idiocy something else occurred to him, that didn’t make sense.
“Wait? You two trained together?” He said looking at Jackson and Lucy. As far he knew Chen and Bradford had been partnered for a decade. There was no way Jackson could still be a trainee…
“Nolan, Jackson, and I,” Lucy said smiling, “We came through the Academy together.”
“But…?” Aaron started again, still confused, gesturing wildly at Jackson “Then why is??”
“Why am I a trainee again?” Jackson supplied.
Aaron nodded mutely.
“Turns out if you die and then come back as a ghost, they make you redo your trainee year,” Jackson shrugged, “Something about ‘the job is different when you’re incorporeal.’”
“You’re just mad I outrank you now,” Lucy laughed before picking up a crossbow bolt off the ground and calling over to where Bradford was still deep in conversation with Nyla and Lopez, “Tim, do you want your used bolts?”
“Do you really have to ask?” Tim called back, “You know the answer to that.”
“I know, now it’s not my job anymore,” Lucy said brightly, before turning to Aaron and Jackson, “Okay trainees! Lesson time. Do we want to bother wasting time collecting used crossbow bolts?”
“Lucy, are you serious?” Jackson said before she leveled a look at him. Aaron was reminded that for such a kind person, she’d reduced him to what was essentially a dribbling idiot not five minutes ago.
“Yes,” Aaron said hesitantly, wracking his brains for the why when she frowned at him.
“As long as they aren’t warped or broken, they can be reused,” Celina’s voice came from the other side of the room where she was leaning on Nolan, “Are the medics here yet?”
“Celina wins!” Lucy called, almost dancing her way over to where everyone else was standing, “As the winner, she gets to go with medics and you two get to collect crossbow bolts.”
Bradford snorted from where he’d settled next to Lucy after Nolan had led Celina to the arriving medics, “That was basically a Tim Test, Luce.”
Aaron saw Jackson’s lip quirk at the nickname but otherwise, the ghost said nothing.
“I learned from the best,” Lucy said, smiling up at Bradford, as they left the room walking perfectly in sync.
“Thorsen!” Aaron’s heart sank as he heard the disappointment and disdain in Nyla’s voice “While Juarez is the trainee of my trainee, so naturally she should be doing well, you should’ve known that. Remedial weapons training tomorrow morning.”
“You too, West!” Lopez called as she and Nyla left the room.
Aaron and Jackson locked eyes, as they scoured the room for crossbow bolts, before saying resignedly in unison, “Yes, ma’am.”
Six months into his trainee year Aaron was fairly certain there was nothing going on between Lucy and Bradford.
He’d interacted with them a handful of times since they’d saved their lives from the lamia, and while they were clearly extremely close and seemed to spend most of their time together, he’d never seen them doing anything remotely romantic. Like Nyla said on his second day, they were partners, the rest didn’t seem to matter.
Or at least that’s what he’d thought until Lucy Chen got shot on an undercover assignment.
Aaron had been in the infirmary being treated for mild burns (Celina’s fire spell had gone poorly or too well depending on who you asked) when the medics rushed an unconscious Lucy Chen in on a stretcher, followed by a blonde woman Aaron didn’t recognize.
“What happened?” Bailey (head medic and Nolan’s literal Amazon of a girlfriend) asked, rushing over to the unconscious siren’s side.
“The idiot we were surveilling decided that pointing a gun at a nemean lion was a good idea,” the blonde woman said, “It ricocheted and she pushed a civilian out of the way.”
“Have you told Tim,” Bailey asked as she looked over the wound, “It’s a through and through, nothing vital hit, she’s just lost some blood. I’ll set up a saline drip and we still have some siren blood in storage.”
“Good,” the blonde said looking relieved before answering Bailey’s first question, “and of course I told Tim, do I look like I have a death wish?”
Bailey shrugged but her response was cut off by a freaked out looking Tim Bradford pushing the doors open to the infirmary
“Nyla, what happened?” He said focusing immediately on Lucy in the hospital bed, looking like he wanted to rush towards her but holding himself back as medics rushed around Lucy. Instead he started pacing.
“She’ll be fine,” Bailey said from her spot next to Lucy’s wound, running through her diagnosis from earlier.
Aaron watched as Bradford gradually stopped pacing and dropped into the chair next to Lucy’s bed, his head in his hands. Now that Bradford had stopped moving, Aaron’s brain caught up with what he’d heard. Bradford had called the blonde Nyla. He could understand Bradford being focused on Lucy…but that blonde woman was not his training officer.
“She was being a hero,” the blonde responded, ignoring Aaron completely, “She dived in front of a civilian because Salonga figured shooting a bullet-proof lion was an intelligent decision, kept our cover though...before she passed out.”
“That’s my girl,” Bradford said, with genuine fondness in his voice, from his spot next to Lucy. The rest of the medical team had moved away, and Tim wasted no time in gently holding one of Lucy’s hands in his.
“Nyla you might want to shift back,” said Bailey who’d moved over to check the dressings on Aaron’s burns after drawing curtarins between his and Lucy’s beds, “You’re freaking out Aaron.”
“What?” the blonde woman said, “Oh right.”
Aaron watched in fascination as the unrecognizable blonde woman slowly shifted back into his TO. And then he felt like an idiot again. Agent Nyla Harper was famous for being their best infiltration specialist. Because she was an incredibly skilled shapeshifter.
“Is this a more familiar face, Five Minutes?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, before adding quietly, gesturing at the curtain blocking Chen and Bradford from view, “Will they be okay?”
Nyla gave him a calculating look before nodding once.
“They get like that anytime either of them are injured. Just give them their space and they'll be back to normal in no time.”
Bailey nodded in agreement as she finished redressing his arm.
“You’ll be good to leave tomorrow morning. I’ll talk to John about letting Celina play with fire.”
“ I will talk to Nolan,” Nyla cut in, “He’s still afraid of me.”
“You’re probably right,” Bailey laughed, before turning to Aaron, “Don’t sleep on your side and you’ll be fine. I’ll be in my office if you need anything”
“Feel better, Aaron,” Nyla said as she left the infirmary.
“Yes ma’am,” he said, surprised not only by the use of his first name but also the genuine affection in her voice. It was nice to hear that Nyla cared about him.
Later that night Aaron was awakened by a flair of pain in his shoulder. He’d rolled onto the burn in his sleep. Inspecting the dressing carefully, he noted that nothing had shifted and he wouldn’t have to bother Bailey.
Just as he was about to settle back into his somewhat uncomfortable infirmary mattress, his attention was caught by voices behind the curtain.
Aaron knew he shouldn’t eavesdrop, but also what else was he supposed to do? He was right there.
“Tim,” Aaron heard Lucy ask, “What happened?”
“You got shot, Luce,” Bradford said quietly though Aaron could hear the palpable relief in his voice, “Did you forget I’m the invulnerable one?”
Lucy giggled, “I just figured I’d see what all the fun was about. You keep jumping in front of bullets.”
“Lucy…” Tim trailed off, an emotion in his voice Aaron couldn’t pinpoint.
“I think,” Lucy continued, “I’ll leave it to you though, in the future.”
“You’re not allowed to leave me, Chen.”
“I won’t,” Lucy murmured back, “Except, right now can I go to sleep? Getting shot is hard work.”
Aaron heard Tim’s low chuckle and the evening out of her breathing as Lucy fell asleep.
“Sweet dreams, Lucy.”
Nine months into Aaron’s training year, something big was happening in the patrol room when he and Nyla had come back from a scouting mission. He sidled up to Celina from where she was standing at the edge of the room.
“What’s happening?” He asked her, as Director Grey gestured Nyla over to where he was deep in discussion with Lopez, Nolan, Jackson and a blonde man Aaron recognized as Lopez’s husband.
“We have to send a team to the Seelie Court, but they are being…difficult.”
“What do you mean difficult?” Aaron asked. Even nine months in, he hadn’t had much experience with the Seelie Court. They tended to keep to themselves.
“I don’t know,” Celina said before he saw Director Grey gesturing them over, “I guess we’re about to find out.”
“Counselor Evers, can you please explain the situation to our trainees?” Director Grey said, “It’s a good learning experience for them.”
“Right,” Wesley Evers said, looking tired, “The Seelie Court has acquiesced to our request to investigate the disappearances in their territory, but the Queen has requested the team sent to investigate be a married couple of at least five years.”
“Which we don’t have,” Director Grey said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“We’ve been married for four years and ten months,” Angela said, “Can’t we just fudge it by two months?”
“Honey,” Wesley said, sounding like he’d already said this, “I’m fae. I literally can’t lie.”
“You’re a lawyer,” Angela argued back, “You lie all the time.”
“No, I don’t,” Wesley said, “I’m just a very good lawyer.”
“So what do we do?” Director Grey asked, “We don’t have any other married couples with field experience and I’m not sending in civilians.”
“We need a married couple for an op?” Tim Bradford asked, as he and Lucy walked up, “Why?”
Nyla sighed, “The Seelie Queen-“
Lucy snorted, “Say no more.”
“How long do they need to have been married?” Tim asked, shooting a glance at Lucy.
“Five years,” Wesley answered, “Ange and I are out.”
“And the rest of you are divorced,” Tim said bluntly.
“Luna's in New York right now,” Director Grey said a little testily.
Aaron and Celina exchanged glances, clearly they weren’t even being considered for the op.
“So why didn’t you just ask Lucy and I?” Tim asked, looking at them all mildly, as though he hadn’t just dropped a nuclear bombshell, “We’ve been married seven years.”
“Seven years, four months, and eleven days,” Lucy said just as casually as Tim, “So I’d say we count. What’s the op?”
Lucy paused.
“Why are you looking at us like that?”
“You two are married?” Aaron was the first to break the silence.
“Since when?” Angela and Jackson said in unison.
“Seven years,” Bradford said, smirking, “Keep up Lopez.”
“Timothy Bradford,” Angela started, “I swear to god-“
“Can we just focus on the op?” Nyla interjected as Nolan nodded furiously behind her, “We can interrogate them later. And trust me we will.”
Grey rolled his eyes before gesturing to Lucy, Bradford, and Wesley to follow him to his office.
“I told you there was something going on,” Aaron said to Celina as soon as Angela, Jackson, Nyla and Nolan walked off together, no doubt planning their interrogation.
Celina snorted, “No you didn’t, you had no idea. No one did.”
“Okay fine,” Aaron admitted, “I had no idea they were married. But I caught a vibe.”
“Who’s the witch now?” Celina laughed as they left the room, before turning to him mischievously, “Want to go play with fire magic again?”
“Nyla’s going to kill you,” Aaron rolled his eyes, before grinning back at her, “Let’s do it!”