Work Text:
“Sergeant Bradford, Sergeant Chen, my office.” Lieutenant Grey’s voice boomed out over the bullpen. Tim, backpack slung over his shoulder ready to leave, caught Lucy’s eye, freshly changed into uniform and clocked in. Unusual for them to be called in together for anything anymore.
They met just outside the door and walked into the glass office together, unconsciously uniting in the face of what was sure to be an odd request.
“Sorry for holding you up Tim, I’m sure you’re ready to get out of here, but I wanted to talk to you two together.” Grey started after signaling to close the door. “I’m sure you two are wondering why.”
“Yes sir,” Lucy replied. The contrast between them, her- a brand new night shift Sergeant in her uniform and him- the veteran Sergeant dressed down after his made her want to giggle.
“You two have been chosen for a leadership exchange program.”
“Us? The two of us?” Tim asked, trying to keep his voice from sounding as incredulous as he felt. Lucy’s eyes would be shooting daggers at him, if it were possible to in front of their boss and still be professional.
“Yes, Bradford. You and Chen. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know.” Grey held up a hand to stop any further discussion. “This is a partnership with a military school, which frankly, I’ve never heard of. But they want to do an exchange with two of their professors to host two of our officers and vice versa to learn each other’s tactics and teaching strategies.”
“When do we go?” Lucy asked.
“In two weeks. You’re getting picked up on Tuesday and return Saturday morning. Don’t worry about your scheduled shifts, it’s being taken care of.”
"Are we part of the hosting?" Lucy hoped desperately that they weren't expected to open their homes to these strangers.
"We'll be sending them on ride alongs with you two for two shifts, before you head there." Grey gave them a knowing smile before continuing, "they're staying in a hotel near the precinct."
“Thank you, sir,” they responded in unison, releasing twin sighs of relief.
“I’ll email you the rest of the details. Dismissed.” Lieutenant Grey waved them out with a grin.
Lucy followed Tim toward the exit, pulling off to the side to talk quietly before she needed to get to her shop.
“Have you ever heard of such a thing? Why us? What the hell?” Lucy whispered frantically.
“It'll be fine Lucy, these things are not that uncommon. Usually it’s other departments and not unknown war colleges but it happens. We’ll talk tomorrow, you’re off right?” His fingers cupped her elbow.
"Yeah, I'll see you after I get some sleep."
After glancing around, he pressed a fleeting kiss to her cheek and strode out of the station.
Lucy's promotion had only happened a couple weeks earlier and they were still trying to find their feet in the rekindling of their relationship. It was clear that they never stopped loving each other, but for the first time they could be considered equals in rank and they began the process of rebuilding the foundations of their relationship.
The night shift was not Lucy's idea of a fun time, but alas, she didn't have a say in the matter. It was going to be a long night and she still hadn't adapted fully to sleeping during the day.
She was about to pull out in her shop when her phone pinged. She pulled it out of her back pocket and read the notification.
Lt. Grey: Leadership Exchange - Cpt. Emetterio & Maj. Devera Bios
She tapped to open the email and in the process of typing in her code, her radio crackled to life.
Duty called.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), Lucy's ride along was tonight. At least a new person to talk to would be helpful in keeping her awake. Four weeks of adjusting to the sleep schedule and she still didn't like it.
Emerging from the locker room, she spotted the man who must be her ride along. He stood with his feet spread, hands behind his back, in all black, emphasizing his short black beard and large black eyebrows. He definitely had the look of a military man.
"Captain Emetterio?" Lucy called out and offering her hand to shake. It was that exact moment that she realized she hadn't actually read the bio Grey had sent her. Here's hoping that doesn't bite me in the ass, she thought.
"Emetterio is fine," he responded, clasping her hand firmly. "Thank you for having me."
"Let's go get the shop." If the man didn't understand the lingo, he didn't show it. Lucy led the way to pick up the gear bags and swiftly they were cruising the streets of LA on a dark, clear night.
"I'm sorry you got put with me, I don't know how much learning you're going to get out of this shift as a military college instructor," Lucy offered and though she didn't dare utter the word 'quiet' out loud, she was afraid it would be just that.
"I am the combat master at the school, so I was taken to your training academy today to meet with the instructors there. Fighting technique isn't what I want to gain out of this exchange." Emetterio kept his hands relaxed in his lap, eyes constantly assessing the terrain around them.
"It's a good thing that's the case then. And hopefully we don't have to take every call and that my officers aren't just sleeping in a parking lot." Lucy smiled wryly to herself, knowing that she'd put the men on notice when she arrived to the night shift.
"The teaching style was interesting, at the academy," Emetterio began, "how did their style work for you? You have other education, do you not?"
Lucy took a moment, "I knew what I was getting into. The alpha male-ness of it all. But I did well. I work hard and I'm smart. I made it work— I'm here, aren't I?"
"That you are, Sergeant Chen."
"Call me Lucy or Chen, no need for rank." Looking at the man, they couldn't be that different in age really. Five or seven years at most, despite the shaved head.
"Lucy, then. It's been," he paused, searching for the words, "a turbulent time for us. And it's isn't like a rotation at Basgiath comes with much in the way of lessons in pedagogy. We're soldiers, doing duty rotation. I have several hopes for this exchange, but one is certainly observing methods of teaching."
"I wish I could be of more use in that case as well, you may have been better off with Sergeant Bradford for that. He's spent years as a Teaching Officer."
"Perhaps so, but I also get to see you lead your shift."
The radio crackled and dispatch called out "7-Lincoln-300, 459 in progress at 12th and Meadowbrook."
Lucy picked up, "7-Lincoln-300 responding Code 2. Send one unit for backup."
With lights and no sirens, they sped through the city until they and their backup unit pulled up outside the address.
She radioed in that they'd arrived and seen no sign of activity.
"When we go in, stay behind me Emetterio, we've got to clear the scene. Officer Moore, you take the back." Lucy handed out instructions simply, unholstered her weapon, and began.
It was quiet in the house, perhaps no longer in progress. Three hard raps on the door with her fist, "LAPD, we're coming in."
She nodded to Emetterio and clicked the radio, signaling her backup. Her hand went to the knob, opening the door slowly.
"LAPD," she called again loudly, weapon held up as she swept the room. It looked trashed. Emetterio dutifully stayed behind her.
"Clear."
She heard a similar echo from Officer Moore toward the back of the house. She moved onto the next room, sweeping it for intruders or the 911 caller, before calling out again.
After clearing the whole house, she hostered her gun and pulled out her radio. "Dispatch, 7-Lincoln-300, code 4."
Clearly the place had been ransacked, but no signs of violence.
"Moore, what was the status of the back door? Any sign of forced entry?"
"No Sarge, nothing suspicious back there."
"Okay let's take another closer look and start the reports, call in for more units to canvas in the morning." Lucy instructed.
She left one of her officers in charge of the scene so she and Emetterio could return to the shop and get back out on the streets.
They drove in quiet for a while, before Emetterio spoke. "You rely heavily on your guns, do you not? Yet they are your most lethal option."
"We do, that's true. But we try not to use them unless it's the last resort." Lucy's lips tugged downward. "We are putting ourselves in dangerous situations with people also potentially armed with weapons just as deadly."
"Seems more like military behavior than a force intended to protect your civilians, no?"
"There is an element of that, certainly, and a lot of cops like it that way. I'm not one of them. I'm a part of a working group to make sure that cops are using their power responsibly." Her spine stiffened with defensiveness. This man didn't know anything about her or how she tried to not be one of those cops that shot first and asked questions never.
She started to wonder where this guy was from, if they didn't use guns. His accent wasn't easily identifiable and she had been told not to ask too many questions. Time for a subject change.
"This is a short exchange for you and Devera, right? Two days?"
He nodded, "yes, for reasons which will become more apparent when you come to Basgiath."
The rest of the shift passed quickly, with only a few calls, and the occasional traffic stop.
Returning to the station at the end of the night, Lucy was dragging. Annoyingly, Emetterio seemed just fine.
"How are you not tired? Haven't you been up for like 22 hours now?" she rubbed her own eyes and promised herself she wouldn't drink another cup of coffee.
"There about. I just," he stroked his mustache, "don't sleep much these days."
"Surely you work hard enough that your body is ready to crash at the end of a day?"
Emetterio scoffed, "perhaps so, but the mind doesn't want to shut off these days. It's a weighty thing, preparing my cadets for battle, for war."
Shit. She really should have read the briefing materials.
He smiled then, like he sensed her confusion. "It'll make sense when you come to Basgiath."
"That's the second time you've said that tonight. I admit I'm kind of nervous about this now." Lucy tried to make light of it, but genuinely was getting worried about what she and Tim would be walking into in just over a day.
Devera, while not an extremely tall woman, had quite the presence in the station. Tim spotted her speaking with Lieutenant Grey immediately, noting her strange choice of clothing. All black, leather jacket, not exactly civilian but not quite a standard uniform either. If anything she looked like a biker, but for her rigid and upright posture.
Grey waved him over and made the introductions.
"Sergeant Bradford here will be taking you along on his shift today, he's one of the best training officers we have here."
"Thank you, sir," Tim nodded to his CO. "Major Devera, great to meet you. Come along and we'll head to the shop."
"Pleasure to meet you too, Sergeant Bradford."
"Call me Tim," It wasn't like this woman was his boot and needed to call him 'sir' or Sarge. She looked like she'd seen some things, she had the look that a lot of the men he'd served with had. Haunted.
"Well then you must call me Devera," she insisted right back.
They'd barely made it 10 minutes down the road, when they got the first call, a public nuisance at a bar, not too far from them.
By the time they pulled up, what had been described as a disturbing the peace had turned into an all out brawl. Three or so men were trading punches and shoving each other around while the rest of the patrons either hid toward the back or along the walls.
"Alright everybody, break it up," Tim yelled as he walked further into the bar. Devera cocked an eyebrow, hanging back by the door. She widened her stance and put her hand on her hips to block anyone attempting to flee. Of course, no one was listening to Tim.
She watched as Tim waded into the fray, pulling people apart and sitting them in chairs. A few would try to stumble back up and start hitting again before Tim shoved them back down. Eventually, everyone gave up and sat while Tim radioed for back up to haul them all down to the station. Or at least that's what they thought.
One man in an unbuttoned, oversized flannel tried to bolt for the front door. This man was big, and drunk, but Devera simply shrugged and took a step toward him before kicking her leg out to collide with the attachment of his quad to his knee. He dropped to the floor.
"Fucking bitch," the man howled. He tried to throw a punch but she easily knocked it aside and grabbed his wrist, twisting herself and his arm behind his back.
"Take it easy, mister. If you do, I won't break your arm."
Tim appeared behind her. "My friend Devera here is going to let you go, sir, and you are going to put your hands behind your head, do you understand?"
The man groaned and bit out a "yes."
"Good, now if you don't, I'm going to let her take you down, got it?" He reached behind his belt to pull out his cuffs. He tapped her shoulder.
When Devera let go, the man moaned in pain but did ultimately put his hands up for Tim to cuff him.
"It's two in the afternoon, is this normal?" Devera wondered. Chantara certainly wasn't that bad. At least, not since they had banned riders…
It took an annoying amount of time for other officers to arrive and help load up those who needed to go sober up in the drunk tank. Tim put their guy in the back of the shop to head back to the station for processing.
"How much of your policing is breaking up idiots in taverns?" Devera asked with a smirk.
"More than I'd like but less than you'd think," he chuckled. "I would think night shift deals with it more than I do." It was an awkward amount of time later that he processed her choice of the word "tavern" as odd.
"Small blessings, I suppose. Grateful that's not a part of my service." she shook her head.
Tim shook his head and gestured for her to get in the shop. They hopped back in and kept up their conversation, as if there wasn't a drunken man sitting behind them.
"There was a time where I thought I'd stay in the army until I was an old man. But here I am. How long have you served?"
"I graduated from Basgiath twelve years ago, and have been teaching there for three now. My rotation ends in another year or so. I'll be back in the field after that."
"Retirement?"
She shook her head, "not really an option." Her posture was closed off and he didn't press any further. "My branch doesn't exactly do unnecessary retirement, as you'll see tomorrow."
He nodded in response, temporarily ending the conversation, while they drove back to the station.
Devera was a shadow, observing everything, while he got the man through intake. She followed behind him silently while they went to the bullpen to write the quick report before heading back out.
"So you're pretty kick ass," Tim asked her.
She raised a brow, "I'm a major in my army, of course I am."
He was really starting to wish he hadn't ignored Grey's email with the professors' biographical information. Where the hell were these people from?
Devera and Emetterio collected Tim and Lucy at the station early, before the heat really set it. They were in a black SUV with a driver, clearly from a local service. Devera's dark hair glinted when the sun hit through the window, as they wound up out of the city. The professors were no longer dressed in LAPD cadet-adjacent attire, but in what must be their standard military fare, all black and lots of leather. They both had patches on the chests of their shirts, the symbology of which was meaningless to Tim and Lucy.
"Where on earth is this place?" Lucy asked.
"Boot, I've been shot—" Tim started, before she backhanded him in the chest.
"He used to do this when he was my T.O." Lucy explained, "Tim Tests. He'd make you walk from the shop if you didn't know exactly where you were. One time he set me up to get my ass kicked by a drug dealer."
"But you kicked his ass instead, as I recall," Tim chuckled, rubbing his chest.
The two professors nodded with small smiles. "I should devise something similar for tactics, more hands on work," Devera added. "Make them think a little more."
"Sounds like something Kaori ought to do more than you, no?" Emetterio replied. "As for where we're going, we can't quite say."
Devera and Emetterio began swapping stories from their ride alongs with the two Sergeants while they drove. The landscape changed rapidly once they hit the Pacific Coast Highway headed toward Malibu.
After a while they turned up into the canyons and eventually, they pulled up into what looked like a camp ground.
"This is where we get out, and go on foot for a bit."
Tim looked at Devera skeptically. "We're hiking? To a military college— that we've never heard of— in the Santa Monica mountains? "
"I know it's unconventional," she responded. "But humor me."
Last night, the professors had given them leather bags with Basgiath uniforms in them, to wear and to use as their packs for the trip. They hoisted their rucksacks onto their shoulders and gestured for Devera to lead the way.
They hadn't been hiking long as they began dropping down into a valley. Despite it being almost late morning now, there was still a dense bowl of fog in the valley. Lucy didn't like the feeling around here, like there was something wrong in that fog. Tim bristled beside her.
"Come on, nothing to worry about," the bald professor said, encouraging them to move into the fog. "Just a little further."
They crossed into the fog, the world behind them disappearing and for a moment the four could see nothing but each other and white all around.
"Keep walking," Devera called from the lead. After thirty seconds or an eternity, the fog suddenly disappeared.
Before them was a giant stone stone building, really series of buildings interconnected. The sound of a river roared beside them and as they looked around they saw mountains to their right that certainly weren't there when they went into the fog.
"Welcome to Basgaith War College," Emetterio said in his deep rumbling voice. He wore a hint of a smile on his lips.
Devera gestured to them, "we'll show you to the guest quarters." She started up the hill toward a bridge between what appeared to be the two halves of the campus.
"What just happened?" Lucy breathed out, looking at Tim with wild eyes. His jaw was clenched and she knew he was as freaked out as she was.
"What the fuck am I looking at?" She wasn't sure if she was supposed to answer that, because clearly, plain as day, standing right in front of them, was a line of dragons perched along the walls of the courtyard.
"Lucy. Did you slip me drugs?" Tim's eyes were wide as he took in the scene, betraying a little bit of his usual unflappable exterior.
"And get you kicked off the force when we get home, no way." Lucy smiled over at him, "but yeah, what the fuck. Dragons?"
"Is it too cliche to say 'we're not in Kansas anymore'?" he asked in return.
It made a little more sense now, why they had been told to leave their service weapons behind. And been provided the uniforms by the school.
"We're definitely not in Kansas anymore."
There were six dragons but the two enormous dragons on the end of the line, one navy blue and one black, demanded the most attention.
"Don't look them in the eyes," a low voice said from behind them. Lucy turned to find a man a few inches taller than Tim, about 210 pounds, warm brown skin, black eyes with dark gold flecks, and a scar through the left eyebrow. She winced, realizing she was cataloguing the man like she was about to radio in a BOLO.
"What happens if you look them in the eye?" she was fairly sure what the answer would be, but asked nonetheless.
"You burn," he deadpanned. The man stuck out his hand, "Xaden Riorson, I'm one of the professors you'll be working with during this exchange."
Lucy shook his hand, about to respond—
"Aren't you a bit young to be teaching?" Tim asked, lifting a brow and offering his hand as well. The younger man gripped his hand firmly.
"Battlefield promotion, you could say. I'm a Second Lieutenant and Sgaeyl's rider. She's the blue daggertail on the wall there," Xaden replied with a shrug.
"I've had one of those," Lucy adds, trying the break the tension. "A battlefield promotion, that is. Got promoted so I could be a training officer, before I took the Sergeant's exam."
"I look forward to learning from you two." Xaden added. A tiny snort came from beyond him. All three heads turned to a small woman, dressed in black leathers, hair braided up into a crown.
"How nice of you to join us, Cadet Sorrengail," he drawled. "Shouldn't you be in formation?" Did you need to make it sound like I don't know how to be polite, Violence? he added, just for her.
You don't know how to be polite, love. She grinned back up at him.
"Hi, I'm Violet," the tiny rider said with an easy smile. Tim had thought Lucy was small for law enforcement, but this woman was even shorter. "Welcome to Basgiath, such as it is. I was asked by my Wingleader and Professor Kaori to escort you to the flight field, you know, now that formation is over."
As she said the words, there was a gust of wind that felt as though it could knock a person over. Tim and Lucy turned to see the line of dragons taking flight, headed toward the mountains and presumably the flight field. The blue and the black that even made her look small were last, each letting out a roar.
Tim thought, looking at the younger man, what a world where 24 year olds are higher ranked in their army than he was when he retired — and it's not like he had dragons! Not an apt comparison, he supposed, since they were commissioned officers anyway. Xaden smirked at him, almost as if he was reading Tim's mind.
"What do you mean, they let twenty year olds ride dragons?" Lucy exclaimed, breaking Tim out of his train of thought. Violet laughed and she and Xaden began to head toward the flight field.
They followed Xaden up the longest set of stairs either of them had ever seen in their lives. The cliff was at least 100 feet tall, perhaps 120. The stairs were cut into the side and to the left of the staircase was what appeared to be an extremely dangerous obstacle course.
“Does anyone actually do that?” Lucy asked before she could think better of it.
Xaden turned back to her, raising an eyebrow. “Why else would it be there? Every cadet faces the Gauntlet or they will never be a rider.”
She desperately wanted to ask him to elaborate but was not looking forward to the answers being unsavory. What was this place? She locked eyes with Tim next to her and she knew he was wondering the same.
“Good thing we don’t want to be riders,” she muttered. “I don’t want anything to do with that thing.” She got the mildest scoff out of Tim. They’d decided — without words — that they would play this close to the vest.
After what felt like an eternity and with burning thighs and calves, they arrived at the flight field.
“Wingleader Aetos has assembled the whole of Fourth Wing to do some demonstrations for you.” Xaden said as they crested the stairs. “Professor Kaori and I will be here to talk you through what you’re seeing. Though, it would be better if you could be on dragon-back,” he trailed off.
“Let me guess, they don’t want us to.” Tim deadpanned.
Xaden smirked, “you got it. They’re very exacting in their standards.”
“But one of them picked her? What are their criteria?” Tim jerked his chin toward Violet several paces behind them with Lucy. Xaden’s smirk transformed into a steely blank face.
He was about to retort when Violet, catching up, placed a hand on his forearm. Tim's stomach dropped.
“I am going to choose to interpret that as a genuine question, given that I’m small and they’re so… not.” Violet said quietly. “I may be small, but I’m smart and quick and loyal. There’s more to riding than being burly, especially since we bond for life. Lucy here isn’t as big as you, but surely she makes an excellent officer for your force.”
“Of course she is. My apologies, I really did just wonder because of your size.” Tim dipped his head respectfully.
“And for the record, two of them picked me.” Violet added with a wink and a smile before walking up to the largest of the dragons they’d seen at the formation. The enormous black dragon dipped his shoulder for Violet to run up his leg where she settled herself into what appeared to be a saddle. Xaden stared after her, stony faced, but jaw clenching.
Lucy let out a laugh. “Wow, you fucked that one up.” Tim shook his head and let out a sigh.
“Sorry, Riorson.” Tim offered again. More apologies than Tim was used to giving but he was a little off kilter, given the dragons of it all.
“She’s the best rider of our generation. She’s a lightning wielder.” Xaden's eyes followed her as the dragon launched into the sky, leading the riot.
“A what now?” Lucy asked.
“I know I was told not to ask where you’re from, but you’d think they’d have briefed you on signets.” An exasperated sigh left the tall man before he continued, “all riders channel magic from their dragons and we all share what we call the ‘lesser magics’ but each rider has a signet, a special ability, mine is control of shadows, Violet wields lightning.” He demonstrated by briefly by summoning a wall of darkness around them, completely blacking out their vision.
“That’s incredible,” Tim said slowly. Happy to have their vision back, he and Lucy shared a loaded glance.
"What other kinds of signets are there? How do you use them? Like in combat?" Lucy's questions came out rapid fire and Tim could see more spinning in her head that just didn't make their way out of her mouth. He took one of his hands out of his belt loops and squeezed her arm.
"Glad you asked," Xaden smirked again, the facial expression practically his default setting. "I teach a signet sparring class, and obviously we have wielding professors, tactics, you've met Devera, she teaches tactics."
"I can't believe this place." Lucy muttered. "Will we get to see signet sparring? And the cadets do flight training every day?"
"Most days, depending on the weather. Not every cadet has flight every day, there's a rotation based on wings. And of course, first years don't start flight training until after they bond a dragon. But no, signet sparring is not on the schedule, potentially a little too dangerous."
"Of course," Tim deadpanned in response. "And the program here is how long?"
"Three years," Xaden said.
"On the one hand, that seems like a long time before going into active duty, and on the other hand, I feel like three years isn't long enough to figure out how to ride a dragon in battle."
Lucy laughed, "I have to agree, but we do let kids drive cars after only six months with a learner's permit."
Xaden cocked his head, "what are cars?"
"Uh," Lucy looked panicked at Tim, "they're like— do you have carriages? They're like carriages but without horses."
"What a strange concept. Could be useful though. I'll still travel by dragon though." He brushed off her misstep with more grace than they expected.
The dragons and riders swooped through various formations, reminding them almost of the murmurations of flocks of starlings. Though quite a lot more colorful. Watching a riot of dragons doing maneuvers was not what either Sergeant expected when Lt. Grey told them they were going on a leadership exchange.
Kaori and Xaden told them about a few of the formations and tactics they were training, while they stood and watched. There really was something beautiful about the riot's many colors swooping through the air at breakneck speeds.
"The riot will be headed up to higher elevations now, further afield. Let's return to the citadel."
Grunts and groans filled the large window walled room, filled with sparring matches between cadets in black and brown taking place across the twenty black mats.
Lucy stood next to Violet, their eyes trained on the mat in front of them with two members of Violet's squad trading punches and kicks.
"And why do some of you wear brown?"
"They're gryphon fliers, they joined us here recently." Violet answered without breaking her gaze from the sparring in front of her.
Lucy frowned. "Wait, what? Where were the gryphons earlier?" Her eyes darted to Tim, "did I miss something?"
"No, they came up after you left the flight field. And they don't stand for the same dramatics at formation as the dragons do."
Her eyes glazed for a moment, before she sorted. "Sorry. Tairn, my dragon, didn't care for that statement."
"Could I interest you in a match?" Xaden asked, walking up next to Tim.
"You think you could take me, Lieutenant?" Tim pulled himself up to his full height, though still a few inches shy of Xaden's stature.
"No blades, no signets, just fists? I don't just think, Sergeant," he chuckled, "I know."
Lucy and Violet raised their eyebrows and turned to them.
"Well, this will go well." Violet muttered.
"Tim's very good," Lucy murmured back, "but my money might be on your man."
They shared a quiet laugh, while the men readied. Xaden shot Violet a wink while he stripped the daggers he carried, discarding them into a pile next to her. After a beat, he pulled off his shirt as well, exposing his heavily muscled frame as well as the enormous dragon relic stretching across his back.
The rest of Violet's squad had gathered to watch the match. The darker skinned man Ridoc sidled up to Lucy and Violet with a low whistle. "This will be fun."
Violet pinched his arm and he held up his hands in surrender, even as Rhiannon slapped the back of his head.
Tim frowned slightly, before starting to shake out his arms and try to loosen up. It had been a little while since he sparred with anyone, let alone someone who looked… like that. Fighting the Hammer had been bad enough, but this guy looked like he really knew what he was doing.
"Do they feed you enough here? Honestly, none of you look like you're carrying enough body fat to last two days in a survival situation."
"We eat just fine, thanks. Now, are you going to try to hit me or not?" Xaden taunted. He knew the older man wanted to punch his lights out— no taunting needed— but didn't he deserve a bit of fun?
Tim shrugged and pulled his own shirt off, before stepping onto the mat. They slowly circled each other, observing each other for a moment before Tim threw the first punch. He jabbed for Xaden's ribs with his left, but Xaden blocked him easily and didn't even bother to try to hit back.
After another round of circling each other, Xaden stepped forward lethally fast and delivered a right hook straight to Tim's jaw. The older man had tried to block but wasn't quick enough.
"Oof," Lucy huffed, wincing. Tim staggered back just a step, before bringing his fists right back up and ready to go. He feinted with a right hook and then got in a decent jab to Xaden's kidney.
"Yeah, that's gonna hurt." Violet agreed. They shared a look that was perhaps a little too giddy, at these two men throwing down on the mat. Both men were fit and experienced in combat and old friends of violence. Each man's body littered with scars, the evidence of years of service and trauma, even though Tim's years of service far outpaced Xaden's.
Hard to say which of them was more hot and bothered by the show in front of them.
Xaden smirked, "that all you've got, old man?"
"Not even close. I've taken on bigger guys than you," Tim drawled back, "you think you're hot shit, don't you, Professor?"
"Maybe, maybe not." They traded another round of punches, before Tim attempted to kick out Xaden's knee.
Violet leaned over to whisper in Lucy's ear, "I think they're having fun."
"I think you might be right. And honestly, so am I." Lucy grinned back, eyes roaming over Tim's bared chest, while Violet's never strayed from Xaden.
"You two together?"
"We're," Lucy paused, lips fought off a smile, "on again. You two?"
A sad sigh escaped the shorter woman, "not at the moment. Not while he's a professor. Code of conduct and all."
"Ah, I can relate. We had a chain of command issue ourselves. We're just starting to find out way back to a sense of normalcy now."
"Gods, what I wouldn't give for some normalcy right now."
Lucy caught the use of 'gods' and bit back her desire to ask all about their religious systems.
"I gather the state of affairs here in Navarre are less than ideal?"
A full peal of laughter burst out of Violet. "Did they brief you at all when they dropped you here?" Lucy shrugged a shoulder. "We've been at war with our neighboring kingdom for about 600 years and just uncovered a conspiracy to hide the true enemy from our civilians, and cadets for that matter, which turned out to be the evil villains of folklore, and so we had to bring the cadets of the country we thought was our enemy into our school."
Lucy paused for a moment, "ain't that a kick in the pants."
Another dark chuckle, "integration has been less than smooth."
The pair turned their gazes back to the men sparring. Xaden rushed Tim with a lowered shoulder and knocked him to the mat. He rolled to the side to avoid Xaden's attempt to pin him, and kicked the back of Xaden's leg, causing him to fall to his knee.
"If you two are quite done," a dry voice interjected, "we have cadets to teach here."
Xaden and Tim shared a glance and a chuckle as they looked up and found the combat master standing on the edge of the mat. The men gained their feet and shook hands.
"Did he mention he's a Duke?" Violet asked Tim with a smirk.
Tim startled, "you people let aristocrats ride dragons and spar with strangers?" He shook his head and thought to himself, and not for the first time, how weird this place was.
"Cadet Sorrengail, not sure you needed to share that particular information," Xaden said sternly, though it was clear he was biting back one of his just-for-her smiles. "I can hold my own, even against strangers."
"Lucy, I see you've found one of my favorite students, if I had such a thing." Emetterio said, turning toward the two leaned against the wall. "Perhaps you two should take the mat in their stead."
Xaden and Tim strode back toward the wall while pulling their shirts back on.
"Oh boo, the show's over," Lucy snorted.
"I guess we'll call it a draw." Tim said to Xaden, before turning to Lucy, "but Emetterio is right, you two should take a turn." He raised an eyebrow at her, daring her to back down.
"Fine. Violet?"
The smaller woman shrugged, "why not?" before copying Xaden and slowly discarding at least a dozen daggers from sheaths all over her body.
"Damn, girl, got enough blades there?" Lucy asked.
"Like you would go on duty without being armed?" Violet smirked back. "Besides, I pride myself on being over-prepared."
Emetterio leaned into Tim and whispered, "this will be excellent."
It was unusual for Violet to fight an opponent who was remotely as small as she was, though Lucy still had her beat by three or four inches. They began much the same as the last match, circling each other and sizing each other up. Violet, who usually waited for her opponent to make the first move, decided to go on offense right away.
She darted in close to Lucy and hit her with a quick jab to the solar plexus, before moving past her. Lucy tried to follow with an elbow but coughed and frowned.
"Damn you're quick," she huffed. With a tilt of her head almost like a shrug, she charged back toward Violet with a right hook that Violet dodged before connecting with a left jab on Violet's side that she really should have avoided but didn't quite.
"Come on, Violence," Xaden drawled, "you can do better than that."
You're not helping, she glared while speaking to him through the bond, before turning her attention back to Lucy. Violet wished she had wrapped her wrists today, it wasn't ever pleasant fighting without daggers with unwrapped wrists these days.
No way out but through, so she advanced on Lucy and used a punch-kick combo Rhiannon had drilled into her last year. They landed decently but Lucy mostly deflected the kick and got her arms around Violet's shoulders before kneeing her in the ribs.
Violet responded with a headbutt, which she would come to regret that evening, but at least it got Lucy to let go.
"This is a treat, I haven't fought unarmed in a while," Lucy laughed. Both women were breathing heavily, with tousled hair, and they grinned at each other.
Lucy broke the moment by kicking out toward Violet's stomach, which she managed to grab and twist Lucy down to the ground. They grappled and each briefly gained the upper hand before Violet used her hypermobility to slip out of Lucy's grasp and fully pin her on the mat.
Lucy tapped the mat twice. Violet immediately lifted off and offered her a hand up.
"Well played, you're really good."
"I have to be," Violet offered a small smile, "I'm sure you understand."
Lucy and Tim collapsed into the first open chairs they found in the faculty dining hall. Between the hike up to the flight field and the sparring (and in Lucy's case, flipping her sleep schedule again), they were exhausted.
"Had a good day, you two?" Devera asked, having noticed them come in with Emetterio.
"You know, Devera, you could have warned us." Tim drawled. "Dragons?"
"Forgive us for the secrecy, but you'd have thought us crazy, wouldn't you?"
"A lot of things about your ride along are making more sense now. Bonding for life, no retirement. Probably can't be away from them for long periods, hence the short visit."
"Well reasoned, Sergeant." Devera praised, as if he were a first year giving a correct answer in Battle Brief.
"And Emetterio, your insomnia. Stress of impending war?" Lucy added.
He shook his head, "not so impending. We were attacked here not even six months ago. Our wards fell and the enemy was inside the citadel."
Each of the Sergeants had a stricken look on their face. "Could that happen again?"
Both professors shook their heads.
"We have better security in place, the wardstone is well protected. Plus, we're relatively confident that we don't have any other riders who have turned venin willing to sacrifice their dragon to bring the wards down again."
"Relatively confident!"
"You're perfectly safe here. Especially with Riorson and Sorrengail both currently in residence. The enemy would be moronic to attack us here and now." Devera waved her hand. "Let's get food, shall we?"
The other three nodded, two stiffly rising to their feet. They walked up to a buffet of hearty food and, blessedly, fresh bread. Even better, there was beer.
The beginning of their meal was quiet, but before long the questions were flowing.
"So tell me about venin, no one's really explained what they are," Lucy asked.
"They're known also as dark wielders, who channel from the earth instead of from dragons or gryphons. They steal the magic from living things until it desiccates. They can do more than we can do, in a way, at least in the sense that they don't seem to experience burnout the way we do." Devera explained.
"Physical limits of wielding?" Tim guessed and was greeted with dual nods.
The discussion continued with questions about how they were killed, what tactics they used in battle (more from Tim than Lucy, who wasn't military), relations with Poromiel, and between the provinces. They also wanted to know if the professors had learned anything they felt of use from their time with the LAPD.
"I do like your methods for clearing territory, especially in urban contexts, or forts." Emetterio mentioned, leading them to discuss a plan for the next day.
The four talked for hours, before Lucy began to fall asleep on Tim's shoulder.
"Your task is for your squad to clear the fort and subdue any enemies from your opposing squad without casualties. The teams are armed with chalk balls to tag someone as out. You can wield, but we're not looking to injure anyone here." Tim called out to the two assembled squads. Professors Devera and Riorson were in attendance as well, with Lucy and Tim leading the exercise.
"Fourth Wing, you'll be hiding in the fort while First Wing will clear. You'll have five minutes to get in positions." Lucy signaled to Second Squad to move out.
"Is this just fancy tag?" Ridoc, whom they had met the day before in the sparring gym, moaned to Rhiannon.
"Shut it, Ridoc, and hurry," the squad leader retorted and they set off at a jog.
"Now, First Wing, your objective it to systematically clear the fort of enemies by fanning out in pairs and clearing each room, subduing combatants as you come across them." Tim looked around at the faces before them, "we do this while armed with ranged weapons, but ours are small, how are you going to hold them at bay?"
"We'll use blades," a female cadet called out, while another said, "fire!"
"Remember we're trying to subdue, but not kill the enemy here. We want to be able to get information from them," he barked.
Lucy stepped forward, hooking her hands on her belt. She preferred the stance, even without her uniform belt. "Blades are the right call, one hand free to wield, though for this exercise it'll be one hand blades and one hand with the chalk balls."
"You should also carry something to tie your enemy up, strips of leather would do in a pinch."
"I'm not tying a dark wielder up with leather!" one of the cadets shrieked.
"Maybe not, but that's the exercise for today. If you're clearing a real building from dark wielders, you should absolutely be trying to kill them or subdue them with magic. But you may be asked to keep one alive to interrogate, and that is what we're focused on today."
"Any other questions, cadets?" Tim looked around at the group, "okay, it's time."
With even less enthusiasm than Ridoc earlier, First Wing's cadets headed toward the entrance, eventually breaking into smaller groups.
Tim, Lucy, Devera, and Xaden split up to follow the cadets.
The exercise ended rather rapidly, with most of the Iron Squad managing to take out the cadets from First Wing instead of the other way around.
"Surely they've taught you to check your corners," Lucy chides a cadet from First Wing, after the funny one from Violet's squad got him out. "Don't get sloppy."
"He just popped out at me, what was I supposed to do?" the cadet pouted, a sad look on a mostly grown man.
"You have to work with your partner, splitting the entry between opening a door and then the first to look in, you start with a look, weapon at the ready. You don't just barge in and hope you don't get shot!" These kind of exercises were difficult enough at the academy and in the field with a T.O., but teaching dragon riders, that was a whole different story.
After they all gathered back in the courtyard, and reversed the roles, and ran the exercise again, it was almost dark.
Their second day at Basgiath was almost done. Tonight they had dinner in the cadet's dining hall, sitting up on the dais with leadership, speaking with the wingleaders, and trying not to let too much about their world slip.
Finally, they were able to return to quarters. They lingered in the hall, in between their two doors.
"Come in with me," he ran his hand down Lucy's arm, eliciting a shiver. Last night they had been too tired and out of sorts to do anything beyond stumble into their assigned rooms and pass out. But tonight, there was nothing but time.
He interlaced their fingers and pushed open the door. He brought his mouth to hers and kissed her hungrily. They had been taking things slowly, or as slowly as two people who were already in love could, but at the moment, fuck that.
Without removing his lips from hers, he pulled her into the room and kicked the door shut. He pressed her against the wall and tangled his fingers in her hair, ruining her meticulous bun. She arched into his touch and whimpered. In a lot of ways, she was used to taking the lead, but he was desperate for her.
Their conflicting shifts were not particularly conducive to quality time lately, and he would be damned if they didn't make the best of this trip.
"I've missed this, missed you," she panted as he steered them toward the bed.
"I love you," he whispered against her lips.
"I love you, too."
Plenty of people expressed love and devotion by saying things like "I would take a bullet for you" or "I would die for you" but those people never expected to get shot at or ever be put in the position. Tim and Lucy, however, put themselves in the line of fire every shift. Lucy had jumped from a moving car to save him. They had risked everything for one another day in and day out. And that was love.
His weight on top of her felt like home, especially now that they weren't denying that they still loved each other anymore.
They'd been offered the 'opportunity' to have their memories of the dragons and magic erased, but they'd sworn they would leave that out when they got home. For all the LAPD would know, Tim and Lucy had sat in classrooms and debated the ethics of different weapons and war itself and lectures on Statecraft and Economics for Strategists.
Lucy made it a point to find Violet and say goodbye.
"Don't let the weight of this war fall solely on your shoulders." Lucy whispered while she hugged the rider.
"I'll do my best." Violet whispered back. "Enjoy that man of yours and be happy."
They gave each other one more squeeze before letting go. Lucy turned her head to see Tim shaking hands with Xaden and Professor Kaori.
It really was time to go.
Devera led them down the hill away from Basgiath, back toward the river and the portal that had brought them to this magical world. Strange to think they'd never come back to Navarre and see dragons ever again.
Devera gave Lucy a swift hug and clasped Tim on the shoulder. "It's been a pleasure."
"Same for us." Tim grinned.
"You'd both have made excellent dragon riders, for what it's worth."
Both of them raised their eyebrows, "seriously?"
"Don't tempt me, Devera." Lucy exclaimed.
"Too bad you're too old," the professor replied with a wink. "Now, off you go. You'll have a ride back from the same place we left." She turned her wrist, as if summoning her lesser magic, and a fog rose up in a copse of trees just steps away.
"Fog. What a way to travel," Tim muttered. "I might take more vacations if it just involved magical portals." Lucy snorted in response.
They walked through the portal back to their world, hand in hand. Cicadas shrieked as dusk fell, echoing through the canyons. They stayed silent their short trek down the hill toward the road, where a car was waiting for them, just as promised.
The last few days felt like a dream, one they would never be able to explain to their coworkers or superiors. Luckily, it wasn't as though they were expected to write reports on the experience, which was odd enough frankly.
"Let's go home."