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Samara rumbled under her as the wyvern beat her massive wings, soaring over the English countryside. The wind whipped at Azrael’s hair, barely missing Telila, who was tucked against her back to shelter against the wind. She glanced at the watch on her wrist, seeing the little dot moving closer to their destination further south.
A week ago, Price had finally contacted her after nearly a month of radio silence. The Dragon-Shifter made small talk for a bit, mostly checking on the Elf and her girls, before telling her about the new team Laswell was helping him put together. Azrael hadn’t heard anything from or about Price since she helped him hunt down Hadir and Barkov.
The Elf had been pulled into another assignment right after destroying the factory, where she had a spotty connection at best. Nonetheless, Laswell or Nikolai would have gotten in touch with her somehow if something had happened to the Dragon-Shifter.
His call had come just as Azrael and Telila entered their home after Samara landed in the field. She had told the Captain that she would meet him on base after her mandatory rest week.
Now, though, she sat in Samara’s saddle as the Phoenix Wyvern soared over the quickly moving landscape to their first home base. She had spent the past week with her horses and Cane Corso and Rottweiler puppies, training the dogs and working the horses.
“Still nervous?” Samara rumbled through their bond.
“A little.” Azrael sighed, knowing full well that the wyvern could feel her nerves.
“Just take it slow. I’ll be there if it gets too much, so will Price.” Samara purred, turning her head just enough for her pale blue eye to catch Azrael’s eyes.
The Elf hummed, running the fingers of her left hand through the dark blue feathers on Samara’s neck. She knew the wyvern was right. Price had had her back since they met, even taking a bullet for her only hours after they had initially met.
Looking down, Azrael could see the base below them as her watch started beeping. The base had the typical layout of a military base, with simple concrete buildings scattered around, massive hangars off to the side, and a training field near the forest. Samara angled toward the hangars where a few dragons hung around.
The wyvern beat her wings as she reared back to land, shaking out the limbs once her talons hit the asphalt before resting her weight on the clawed wrist joints. At the edge of the tarmac stood four very different men, Price being one of them. Telila jumped off Samara’s back as the wyvern lowered her shoulder, Azrael following right behind the wolf as Price headed for them with the three others trailing behind.
Telila barked as she ran to Price, jumping up to nibble at his face with her fluffy tail wagging like crazy. The Brit laughed at the wolf before he nudged her back onto all fours.
“Hey, old man!” Azrael smirked under her mask, her Iraqi accent coming out strong as the Captain laughed before pulling her into a hug, “I’ve missed you, Abba.”
“Missed you, too, kid.” Price whispered against her temple, a bit of a draconic purr bleeding into his voice.
The Shifter quickly kissed her temple and gently squeezed her before pulling away and guiding the Elf to the other soldiers waiting nearby. Telila tucked herself against Azrael’s side, her shoulder brushing against the woman’s hip. Samara, meanwhile, stayed a few feet back as she followed them.
“Boys, meet Corporal Azrael. She’ll be the last to join us for a while.”
Azrael quickly studied the three men in front of her. One of them was Sergeant Kyle Garrick, a Half-Elf Vampire she had met after saving him, Price, and some Americans from Al-Qatala. The man standing next to him was about Azrael’s height, stocky, and full of muscle. His dark brown hair was styled into a mohawk. Next to him stood a man who loomed over the others, nearly reaching Nikolai’s height. The entirety of his massive body was covered in black clothing, a skull balaclava covering his head that only left his mismatched eyes visible.
“It’s good to see you again, Azrael. You too, Samara.” Kyle nodded to the woman and her wyvern.
“Good to see you too, Garrick.” She nodded as Samara rumbled behind her.
“Sergeant Soap MacTavish, there’ve been stories goin’ aroun’ about ya. Pleasure to meet ya, ma’am.” The one with the mohawk grinned at her.
“So I’ve heard. Though that makes me wonder which stories you’ve heard.” Azrael arched the brow with a scar cutting through it.
“That yer a deadly woman, best one to be an equal with Ghost.” Soap pointed to the giant next to him.
“So you’re the Ghost I’ve heard about, one of SAS’s best.” She hummed as she looked up at the Brit, who just nodded at her.
“He doesn’t talk much.” Kyle said on Soap’s other side.
“Fine by me, if he’s as good as people say, I don’t give a shit how much he talks.” Azrael shrugged as she adjusted the bag on her back.
“C’mon, I’ll show you where you’ll bunk.” Price patted Azrael’s shoulder before he looked at Samara, “There’s plenty of empty dens in the hangars for you to pick from.”
The wyvern huffed smoke from her nose before she turned and wandered into the closest hangar.
Meeting Soap MacTavish
Price had pulled quite a few strings to ensure his team felt at home on base, starting with everyone having their own room. He led Azrael to a room across the hall from Ghost’s—indicated by a little plaque on the door. The room was bigger than any barrack she’d stayed in before, with a full-size bed on one side and a desk on the other.
Claiming he had paperwork to catch up on, the Dragon-Shifter left to let her settle in. Azrael dropped her rucksack on the bed as Telila jumped onto the end and curled up so she had an eye on the door as her Elf looked around. The room featured all the standard amenities, including an open doorway that connected to a spacious bathroom shared with the vacant room next door.
Clearly, Price had given her a completely private room without a neighbor, presumably because she was the only woman picked for the 141. Returning to the bed, she started unpacking what little she had brought. The Elf hadn’t brought a whole lot from her house, since she didn’t live all that far away.
But the two things she had packed plenty of were her masks and compression sleeves. Most of them were a dark color with little to no pattern. Though she did bring a few that had patterns, mainly skulls.
There was a knock at the door as she was putting her masks next to her compression sleeves in her bedside table. She adjusted the mask on her face before saying ‘Come in’ loud enough for whoever was on the other side to hear her. Hearing the door open, she looked over to see Soap poking his head in, his eyes locking onto Telila, who was watching him as well.
“She’s not gonna bother ya.” Azrael stated as she pet the demon-wolf’s massive head, “You’re making him nervous.”
Telila huffed and laid her head on her paws, looking away from Soap as he stepped inside and leaned back against the door frame.
“Not a fan of dogs?” The Elf asked as she turned back to her rucksack.
“Nah, just had some bad experiences with ‘em as a kid.” Soap humorlessly chuckled, still glancing at Telila ever so often.
“Understandable. But you don’t have to worry about her, unless you’re trying to kill me anyway.” Azrael chuckled as she pulled her Glock out of her bag, “Did ya need somethin’ or are ya the type to lurk around?”
“Nah, that’s more of Ghost’s thing.” She could hear the smirk in the man’s voice as she set the gun aside.
“So I’ve heard, but what about you? And what kinda name is Soap anyway?”
“That’s classified. Why’d you get called Azrael?”
“Classified.” Soap raised an eyebrow at her, and she laughed, “Kidding, you know anything about Islam?”
“Nah, not really. Egg donor raised me catholic.” Soap shrugged.
“Azrael is the angel of death. I was one of the best killers in my homeland, people started to call me Azrael, and I just accepted it.” She explained as she pulled a few shirts from her bag and moved to tuck them into the dresser Soap was standing next to.
“You from the Middle East?”
“What gave that away?” Sarcasm was heavy in her voice as she exaggerated her accent and looked at the man.
Watching him roll his eyes, she laughed before noticing the slight point on his ear. She tucked the question she wanted to ask for later as she went back to her bag and pulled out her short-sword. The blade was the same length as her forearm, and the handle was the same length as her hand.
“I was born and raised in Iraq. Price brought me to England two years ago. You sound Scottish, so I’m guessing yer from up north.” Azrael glanced at the man as she continued to unpack her things.
“Good guess, and yer right. Think me ’n you are the only ones here not from England.” Soap grinned.
“Probably.” She chuckled.
“By the way, what are ya, if ya don’ mind me askin’.” The Scot asked after a moment.
“Only if it’s tit for tat.” Azrael retorted as she set her now-empty rucksack aside, everything set out on her bed.
“Far enough.” Soap shrugged.
“Well, you can see the ears. But I’m a Mage, though the massive wolf tends to give that away.” She chuckled, “What about you?”
“Werewolf.”
Meeting Lieutenant Ghost
A little while later, after she had unpacked and put everything away, Azrael and Telila wandered around to get the lay of the base. The 141 had their own separate building, with their offices, a main room with a kitchen, a living room, and dining table, and their rooms on the second floor; they even had their own laundry room.
They passed quite a few people as they explored other parts of the base. But most of them quickly got out of their way, either because of Telila’s size or Azrael herself. Most of the people they passed were shorter than Azrael by quite a bit. The Elf was aware that her height, along with her three visible scars, haircut, ability to go unnoticed, and covered face, made her an intimidating presence, especially up close. She’s lost track of how many times she’d had to dodge a reflexive swing from someone who hadn’t noticed her until they turned or she spoke.
Ghost, she assumed, had pretty similar experiences. Rumors constantly flew around about the giant Brit that moved like his namesake on every base Azrael had been stationed at. Matter of fact, Azrael had been hoping to work with him on an assignment; really get to see him in action and either debunk or confirm the stories she’d heard.
“Looking for something, Corporal?” The Brit in question suddenly said on her other side, surprising her and Telila.
“Nothing in particular, Lieutenant.” Ghost kept pace with her easily as she kept walking, Telila side-eyeing the Brit, “The rumors I heard about you moving silently were just proven true, though.”
The two of them stopped talking after that, simply wandering the base in a comfortable silence until they reached the edge of the forest. A well-worn path cut through the underbrush and led into the mountains Azrael had seen as she flew in. Ghost silently followed behind her as she followed the path that ended at a cliff.
Dragons of all kinds were dotted around the valley in front of them. Azrael could distantly feel Samara close by and called for her, getting a roar in response as she saw the wyvern’s dark feathers pop against the vibrant green. Ghost took a few steps back as Samara landed on the edge of the cliff, her thick talons digging into the stone as she lowered her head to be level with Azrael’s.
“How’re you settling in?” The Mage asked the wyvern through their link.
“It’s not so bad. Umbra found me pretty quickly, been showing me around.” Umbra was Price’s dragon, an absolutely massive wyvern, one of the biggest in the world.
Azrael chuckled as she scratched the little feathers on Samara’s forehead, getting a purr from the wyvern. Though her attention quickly shifted to Ghost, who stood a few feet away from Azrael. Her two-toned blue eyes narrowed as she moved her head to hover over the Elf.
“Easy, sister. He’s safe.” Azrael said aloud, reaching up to scratch the scales along the hybrid’s jaw.
Samara huffed as she rocked forward to rest her weight on her wings. Ghost seemed to hardly react to getting a death glare from Samara when Azrael looked over at him.
“She’s very protective.” The Elf explained simply as Samara pressed her head against Azrael’s chest.
“So’s mine.” Ghost said before he whistled.
Before long, a pitch black dragon landed behind the Brit. The dragon’s wings and tail fins turned pale gray in contrast to the stripes on his sides and top line. Although he had the form of a Night Fury, his head and front legs resembled a typical wyvern, complete with wings that had claws of the wrist joint; he was obviously some kind of hybrid.
As he moved to Ghost’s side, the hybrid’s vivid green eyes studied Azrael, Telila, and Samara. His shoulder was level with Ghost’s head, who petted the hybrid between his top set of horns, causing him to purr and push into his hand. Samara was scrutinizing the other hybrid just as hard as he was scrutinizing her.
“This is Raven.” Ghost introduced the dragon, who was locked in a staring contest with Samara.
“Is he a hybrid?” Azrael asked the Lieutenant even though she already knew the answer.
“Yes. He’s half Night Fury, not sure what kind of wyvern though.” The Brit stated, “I’m guessing yours is a hybrid too.”
“Half Phoenix.” Azrael hummed as Samara and Raven finally stopped staring at each other.
“This Raven seems strong. I wonder how he will be in a fight.” Samara rumbled through their link.
“Me too. Never seen a Night Fury before, even a hybrid.” Azrael scratched at Samara’s jaw as she glanced at Raven again.
“How long have you been bonded?” She asked the man after a moment.
“Almost seven years. What about you?” Ghost threw back at her.
“Samara found me ten years ago, we’ve been together ever since.” Samara purred as the Elf talked, pushing her forehead against her chest again, “We’ve been through a lot together.”
“After ten years, I don’t doubt that.” The man hummed, “Price gave me your file, but most of it was blacked out even with my clearance level. I’ve seen enough to know why. But none of it told me why he brought you on.”
Azrael took a breath as Telila gently head butted her hip, and Samara rumbled. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ghost waiting for some kind of answer. And as her new Lieutenant, technically, she had to answer him,
“Price trained me, after we worked together on an opp in Iraq, and he brought me to England. Anything military related I know, he taught me. He knows what I can do.”
Ghost really looked at her, his mismatched eyes scrutinizing her like he would a target. His blue and brown eyes looked like they had started to faintly glow before he nodded, seeming to accept her answer.
Meeting Kyle Garrick, again
Azrael didn’t properly meet Gaz until the next day, since the Sergeant was busy after she arrived at the base. They first met after she and Samara took out a band of Al-Qatala in Urzikstan. After which, Azrael joined their hunt for Barkov.
However, she didn’t really have a chance to get to know the Half-Elf, other than the fact that he was a Vampire. Both of them were more focused on the mission at the time.
The Mage was curled up on one of the couches in the 141’s living room, some random show playing on the TV as she drew in her sketchbook. Telila was stretched out next to her on the couch, taking up the section that sat against the wall.
Azrael noticed the man’s presence as she was sketching out Raven’s horns from memory. She didn’t look behind her since she assumed he was going for a snack before heading back to the office he shared with Soap. But after a minute, she still felt him watching her from the doorway.
“You gonna stand there the whole time?” She asked after a minute, finally looking up from her sketch and turning to look at Kyle over the back of the sectional, “I’m not gonna bite.”
She heard Kyle chuckle as she twisted back around, and the faint tap of his boots on the wood floors as he moved to sit on the other end of the couch. Azrael went back to her sketch as she waited for the Sergeant to say what was on his mind.
“We never got the chance to be properly introduced, ma’am.” Kyle said as he rubbed his hands together, glancing at the show Azrael had playing.
“Please, just call me Azrael or Z, Kyle. We’re equals here. Besides, I know you outrank me.” Azrael smiled under her mask.
“Okay, Azrael. Well, you already know my real name, but people tend to call me Gaz.” The man played with his fingers and didn’t look right at her, clearly nervous.
“What’re you so nervous about, Gaz?” She looked up from her sketchbook again, turning her full attention to the man next to her, “We’ve worked together before, you’ve seen me in action.”
“You’ve got a reputation for being a deadly and cold woman, a female version of Ghost basically. Nobody knows anything about you or what you really do. You just appeared one day and became one of the best. I apologize if getting to really talk to you has me a bit on edge.” Gaz avoided looking her in the eye as he rambled on.
“I know I’ve got that rep, but if I’m being honest here. I haven’t met anyone I could remotely trust. But Price seems to trust you boys; I have no reason to doubt that.” Azrael kept her voice soft, letting her accent come through in her words, “You don’t have to be scared of me, Gaz. I’m not the type to hurt the people I work with.”
“I’ll hold you to that, Z.” Gaz smiled at her, showing off his fangs.
“How have you been holding up, after everything that happened with Al-Qatala and Barkov?” She picked up her sketchbook again, giving Gaz some time to think about what he wanted to say as Telila finally woke up.
“Hanging in there… I’m still kinda processing everything that happened.” Gaz sighed as he leaned back in his seat, and Telila sat in front of him, demanding pets, which he gave.
“That’s not surprising, you went through a lot in a short period of time.” Azrael glanced at the Vampire and wolf for a second, “Have you heard anything about Alex? Did he make it outta that explosion at all?”
“Yeah, yeah, we were able to find him. Smart bastard escaped through some tunnel under the place. He’s still recovering from his injuries last time I called him, but he’s doing good, lost his leg though. Doc’s said he might be able to return to active duty after rehab.” Gaz had a small smile on his face as he talked about the American.
“That’s a relief. He’s a lucky man to survive an explosion like that.” The smile on her face leaked into her voice as she spoke.
Meeting Jazlyn Benton
After around four months and three missions, the 141 welcomed a new member. Another Captain, to be exact. Azrael caught a glimpse of the woman as she passed the wing with their offices on her way to her room. Before heading to the living area, Azrael spotted the Brit hugging the woman, implying that she was one of Price’s friends.
Azrael didn’t get a good look at the woman until after dinner, when most of the team was relaxing in the living room. She and Price were talking about something, Price getting punched in his shoulder after he muttered something that Azrael missed.
“Ah, good you’re all here.” Price said as if he didn’t just get punched, “I want you all to meet our new member.”
Azrael turned from the show she was watching, and Soap and Gaz looked up from their card game, which Soap was winning. A sleeping Ghost was stretched out on the sectional, taking up most of it. The giant Werewolf had passed out a while ago, with Telila damn near on top of him; in fact, he had fallen asleep almost immediately.
Azrael stood from the smaller couch to get a look at the woman. Her skin tone was extremely close to Kyle’s. All of her black hair was in neat braids and pulled back into a bun. She had three scars on her face: two thin, tiny ones on her right side, and a large, thick scar across the middle of her face. And both of her arms were completely covered in tattoos. She certainly looked human, but she exuded an unnatural aura the Elf couldn’t place. Azrael came to stand in front of Price and the new woman, the Dragon-Shifter introducing her.
“So you’re the kid John’s been telling me about, Captain Jazlyn Benton. You can call me Shea.” The Captain held out her hand for Azrael to shake.
“What exactly has he told you about me?” Azrael asked as she shook Shea’s hand and side-eyed Price.
“Only good things, promise.” Shea chuckled.
“We grew up together, went through basic training too.” Shea said with a smirk and a glance at Price.
“Don’t even think about it.” The other Captain groaned.
“You’re no fun, Johnny.” Jazlyn rolled her green eyes before she looked over at the giant on the couch, “I’m gonna guess that’s Ghost.”
“Yup, and I ain’t wakin’ ‘im up. I don’t got tha’ much of a death wish.” Soap chuckled.
“You sure about that, mate?” Kyle chuckled, leaning against the table behind him as the Werewolf glared at him, and Telila jumped off the couch and came to sit at Azrael’s side.
“Boys.” Price interrupted the two before they could get into an argument, even if it was the joking type, “Shea, MacTavish and Garrick, they’re my two Sergeants.”
“Aren’t you the one who socked an officer and got away with it?” Shea pointed at Soap.
“In my defense, the racist son of a bitch had it coming.” The Scot shrugged.
“Oh, I know, worked with him once, and he was a complete dick.” Shea chuckled.
She and Soap instantly hit it off, joining his and Kyle’s game while Price and Azrael sat down to watch the show she had going. After a while, Ghost woke up, nodded to Shea, and climbed the stairs to retire for the night. At one point, the Elf and Dragon-Shifter heard Gaz curse while Shea and Soap laughed.
“Try to be nice to her, Angel. Shea is a good woman and a damn good soldier.” Price whispered to Azrael.
“If she’s nice to me, I’ll return it. You clearly trust her. I trust your judgment, Abba.” Azrael hummed, scratching Telila between her ears.
Roughly an hour later, Azrael called it a night as well, Telila following right behind her. Something caught her eye in the room next to hers as she went for a shower. What she saw ended up being a rucksack, resting against the leg of the bed. She had to guess it belonged to Shea. It made sense that she’d be put into the room next to the only other woman on the team.
Telila curled up on Azrael’s bed as the Elf took her shower and went through her normal routine. She grabbed her sketchbook after pulling on a loose, oversized t-shirt and put on some music as she laid on her stomach. Telila looked over her shoulder, studying the sketch of Akari, Gaz’s Psychic Twin Tail Dragon.
“You got good taste, kid.” Shea suddenly said, making Azrael and Telila jump.
The woman was leaning against the bathroom door frame, looking anywhere but at Azrael; clearly giving the Elf a chance to put on one of her masks. But Azrael used her magic to black out the bottom half of her face since she didn’t feel like moving to grab a physical mask.
“I’m not gonna ask, I’m sure you have your reasons for hiding.” Shea hummed as she moved to Azrael’s desk, sitting in the chair.
“You say the same thing to Ghost?” Azrael asked, petting Telila’s head as the wolf laid back down.
“I actually knew him before the mask, back when he was just a private.” Shea chuckled, “Even back then, he was something else.”
“What about you and Price?” Azrael asked again.
“John? We grew up as neighbors; my uncle and his mother were friends, so John and I spent a lot of time together when we were younger. I actually spent most nights after school at his house since my uncle had to work a lot to support the two of us.” The Captain smiled.
“Yer uncle raised you?” Azrael sat up, putting her sketchbook on her bedside table.
“Yeah, mum died during childbirth, and she never knew my father, just that he was Latino, and an Incubus. She was a Siren. My uncle was the only one willing to raise me.” Shea shrugged, looking at Telila as the demon-wolf curled up against the wall, her massive head resting on Azrael’s thigh, “What’s her name?”
“Telila.” The Elf smiled, running her fingers through the wolf’s bronze fur.
“John mentioned you were a Mage. Funny how he failed to mention the oversized wolf familiar.” Shea chuckled.
Azrael chuckled as well, looking down at the wolf who was quickly falling asleep as the Elf scratched her head.
“You’re a hybrid. I never woulda guessed.” The Elf tilted her head, looking at the woman again, now seeing the slight sparkle on her dark skin.
“That’s kinda the point.” Shea smirked, “People used to hunt both Sirens and Succubi. Uncle told me to hide what I was, was easy to pretend to be human, and nobody ever questioned it.”