Chapter Text
“Look at the people I’ve already hired,” Dubenich says, shoving a blue folder into Nate’s hands. He takes it, against his better judgement, and flips through the pages, his eyebrows climbing higher with every face revealed. “Do you recognize any of these people?”
“Yeah, I’ve chased all of them at one time or another…” First up is Alec Hardison, and Nate skips past the list of alleged crimes down to Known Magical Creatures, only to find that field empty. Interesting. Then again, Nate doesn’t know for certain that Hardison has a dragon. So either Dubenich hasn’t done his research, or he thinks Nate won’t accept the job if he knows he’s going to be working with a bonded pair. It’s not Nate’s problem, because he’s not accepting the job.
The next file is Eliot Spencer, and Nate looks at the Known Magical Creatures field on instinct, even though he already knows the answer—but once again it’s blank. That's weird. Nate knows for a fact that Spencer has a dragon—he'd come face to face with the little devil once, and still has the scars to prove it. Bonded dragon pairs don’t change much outside of death, and even though Nate is no longer in the field he still would’ve heard if something that drastic happened to Spencer. It’s rare enough for criminals to own magical creatures, despite how often they trade them—Nate figures buying and selling magical creatures doesn’t lend itself well to bonding with them.
The next file is—
“Parker? You have Parker?” Nate asks, looking up at Dubenich in disbelief. Once again the Known Magical Creatures field is empty, though Nate is almost willing to forgive this one—getting any concrete information about Parker is next to impossible. Her file doesn’t even have a photo attached, unlike Spencer and Hardison. Still, it betrays a lack of research, given the fact that Nate’s heard rumors of Parker owning at least one of every type of magical creature.
“Is there somebody better?” Dubenich asks, looking so out of his depth that it’s almost laughable.
“No, but Parker is insane,” Nate says—though if Dubenich knows he’s contracted three bonded dragon pairs, then he’s the insane one. That’s asking for the job to fall apart.
Nate takes the job. It’s stupid, and reckless, and there’s no way these people will work together long enough to pull this off—especially not with three bonded dragons in the mix, considering how territorial dragons are—but he’d be lying if he said he isn’t interested in seeing how the dragons and their bonded humans interact. It’s a nice distraction, and Nate gets to stick it to IYS.
When he meets up with Parker, Hardison, and Spencer outside the Pierson Aviation building, Nate is surprised to note there isn’t a single dragon in sight.
No, that’s not quite true. There’s a slight bulge under Spencer's loose fitting t-shirt, and Nate subconsciously rubs a hand along his arm, remembering all too well the feeling of claws raking against skin. When Nate turns and walks towards the building he'll be setting up shop in, he catches sight of a large shadow looming on the roof, ready to spring into action if need be, and resists the urge to smirk.
The three humans get along surprisingly well as they set up—at least Nate thinks they do, based on what he can hear through the earpiece. No one’s screaming yet, which is a good sign.
Nate’s watching the security cameras closely, which is the only reason he notices an extra shadow on the tape once Parker enters. It’s something he’d brush off as a flicker of the cameras if he didn’t know better. He’s begrudgingly impressed—he didn’t even see Parker’s dragon enter the building.
“Use Hardison as bait,” Nate instructs. The hairs on the back of his neck prickle as he feels a pair of eyes on him, and he resists the urge to turn around. He knows what he’d see if he looks out the window, and instead stays focused on the job. He has no doubt Hardison's dragon will rip him to shreds if anything happens to Hardison, but he trusts Spencer to do his job, so he isn’t worried.
Nate hears the tell-tale hits of flesh on flesh over the comms, as well as the skitter of claws on tile, and then it goes silent.
“That’s what I do,” Eliot says, and Nate idly rubs at the scars on his arms, knowing first hand just how ruthless Eliot and his bonded dragon can be.
“She’s cool,” Hardison says.
“Don't,” Eliot growls.
“No, I mean it, cool. Ani smelled her, I just didn't expect her to be so small-”
“Don't.” Nate isn’t sure what Eliot does, but Hardison shuts up fast.
The rest of the job goes well. Surprisingly well, considering the three bonded dragon pairs—well, two bonded dragon pairs, plus Parker and a couple shadows in the camera that never stick around long enough to identify.
They send the files to Dubenich and split up, and Nate is ready to never have to see them again. It was an interesting distraction, but he has no interest in working with bonded dragon pairs ever again.
Of course he isn’t that lucky. He’s somewhere between drunk and hungover as he enters the warehouse, expecting to meet with Dubenich, only to instead see a standoff.
“Look, forget you man. You did it when we were coming down from the elevator.” Hardison’s dragon stands behind him, wings spread in a show of force. Its scales are a deep green, so dark they’re almost black, a color that might be comforting if the dragon weren't also five feet tall and baring its fangs.
“Yeah, that makes sense doesn’t it? You had the file every second.” Eliot’s dragon is wrapped around his shoulders, small enough to fit easily but no less intimidating for its size. Its scales are more orange and less fiery red than Nate remembers, but its claws and fangs glint in the light.
It’s enough to make Nate think twice about intervening.
He thinks twice, then does it anyway.
“Hey!” Nate shouts, and all four sets of eyes turn to him. Hardison's dragon's eyes are a chilling deep red, and Nate looks away quickly, while Eliot’s dragon breathes out a puff of smoke.
“Did you do it?” Eliot asks, not looking at all bothered despite the fact that Hardison’s dragon still looks ready to breathe fire. “You’re the only one that’s ever played both sides.”
“Yeah, you seem pretty relaxed for a guy staring down a dragon,” Nate counters. Eliot shoots a sideways glance at Hardison and his dragon and scoffs.
“You're not going to fire on me,” Eliot says, his hands still in his pocket despite being in a tense standoff.
“How do you know?” Hardison challenges, his dragon puffing itself up a little taller as if to emphasize his point.
“I've stared down dragons ready to fire, and this ain't it.” Hardison holds his posture for a moment longer before deflating at the accusation. His dragon follows suit, folding its wings up to its body. When it isn’t trying to be threatening, Hardison's dragon almost looks… approachable. More approachable than Eliot's anyway, who despite its size is much more terrifying.
“You gonna fire?” Nate asks Eliot. Eliot scoffs and shakes his head, and his dragon folds its wings—not entirely putting them away, but backing down. With the way its standing Nate notices for the first time that one of its wings is slightly deformed. Last time he came face to face with it, he didn’t have the time to observe what it looked like, too busy trying to defend himself from the claws.
Eliot jerks his chin at something over Nate’s shoulder and he spins, seeing Parker stalking forward.
“My money’s not in my account,” Parker says, moving with an easy, deadly grace. She’s alone, but Nate doesn’t dare take his eyes off her to look for her dragon. “That makes me cry inside in my special, angry place.” She comes to a stop across from Nate, the four of them now forming a little circle.
"Where's your friend?" Nate asks. Parker frowns at him like he'd spoiled a surprise, and a moment later a shadow in the bannister breaks off and floats down to land next to her. Nate feels both Eliot and Hardison tense in surprise—which surprises him in turn. Dragons can sense each other, and bonded pairs usually know when they meet other bonded pairs.
Nate doesn’t give it much thought, because Parker's dragon still has its wings spread out. Out of all of them, Parker is the only one that Nate worries might actually attack. Her dragon is somewhere between Eliot's and Hardison's in terms of size, though its scales are pitch black, easily blending into shadow and making it hard to see just how big it is, while its eyes glow dull yellow.
“Okay, Parker,” Nate says slowly. Eliot shifts and his dragon settles back, tucking itself around his neck and looking, for a moment, cute. Once the other two dragons back off, Parker’s follows suit. Even though all the dragons have stood down, Nate knows they could attack at a moment's notice if they deem him—or anything else in the room—a threat. “Now, did you come here to get paid?” Nate asks, looking between the humans.
“Hell no. Transfer of funds, man. Global economy,” Hardison says.
“It’s supposed to be a walk away. I’m never supposed to see you again,” Eliot scoffs and takes a half step back, crossing his arms.
“Then the only reason you guys are here… is because you didn’t get paid. And you’re pissed off,” Nate says slowly, putting the pieces together, and he can’t help but laugh when he realizes Dubenich’s plan. The others look at him like he’s insane, but he can’t stop laughing. “I mean, as a matter of fact the only way to get us all in the same place at the same time is to tell us that we’re not. Getting. Paid.” Nate watches the realization ripple across humans and dragons alike as they all stare back at him.
Nate turns and runs, heading towards the exit, and he hears a flurry of movement and wingbeats as the dragons take off. Two shadows pass overhead, and Nate glances up long enough to see Hardison’s and Parker’s dragons smash out through the windows. Parker, Hardison, and Eliot are on Nate’s heels, and Eliot’s dragon is still on his shoulder; Nate remembers the way its wing is bent, and wonders if it can even fly.
Nate gets the others out and is about to follow when he sees the distant glow of flame, and has just enough time to think well, fuck, before the whole world turns white.