Chris and Charlie Chapter 3 Of Men and Missions
As the first days of April came in, Chris and Charlie had settled into a routine. They patrolled together almost nightly, Charlie would stay for an hour, then go back to work. In the morning they would alternate flats to go to and eat breakfast – Chris would cook mostly but sometimes they would just eat at The Atrium. They would make love and Charlie made sure to give Chris an orgasm or two, then sleep into the afternoon. Then they would spend the day together listening to music, arguing about sports, watching movies or talking about magic until it was time for Charlie to start his shift. If they were at Charlie's house, Chris would leave with him and drive to his house where Charlie would apparate to work. If they were at Chris's, Charlie would apparate to work from there. Then they would meet for patrol and do it all over again.
Chris was steadily going through all of Charlie's books about magic. He finished A History of Magic by Bertha Bagshot and halfway through Hogwarts: A History. His next book to read is the Authorized Biography of Harry Potter – The Boy Who Survived written by Xenophilius Lovegood. It was the only autobiography Harry himself approved because of its accuracy, and Harry even wrote a forward in it, which he was excited about.
Charlie still rarely did magic around him except for the same few charms, but if he asked him a question about something he read, he would talk about it. Charlie likewise was going through Chris's music collection. Some bands he was familiar with, but learned a lot about American and Irish bands. Chris would take Charlie though songs and lyrics and the ones that made him feel happy when he was down, or matched his intensity when he was upset. They bonded over Linkin Park, who Charlie had heard of but never really listened to.
Sunday nights, Charlie's only night off as he worked six nights a week, were date nights and they would go out to dinner at different places. On one of those Sundays they had dinner upstairs instead and Charlie met Clarissa, sometimes called Clary, and her son Rudy. She also was more stunning in real life than her picture could ever show. At first glance, she looked Euro-Caucasian, could pass as Italian, Portuguese or Spanish, as fair as her skin was. She also had a very motherly way about her, the way that she spoke to her siblings and the way they gave her respect.
Rudy was a ball of energy, and Charlie enjoyed playing video games or football with him. Charlie actually preferred being at Chris's house more, it was lively and there was never a dull moment with Charity entering in unannounced with stories from her work as a nurse, or babysitting Rudy. And he loved the way Charlie was with his nephew, and it made him wonder how Charlie would be as a dad. Chris on the other hand loved the quiet of Charlie's place. Either way they both recognized how much they wanted to be around each other every day.
With every letter that came from home, Charlie was tempted to add in his responses about his relationship with Chris, but the words never made it to paper. Next time, he thought each time. He knew Harry and Ginny's wedding was coming up in a few months and wasn't sure if he was ready to invite Chris just yet. Not because he didn't want him there, but it scared him think about his family's reaction to it.
Chris was surprising himself not just that he wasn't getting bored of Charlie, but that he welcomed it. The Saturday nights when Charlie worked felt the longest and the loneliest. Charlie's presence in his life was changing him and he felt it. He realized this was his first adult romantic relationship and he reasoned that had a lot to do with it. Maybe he always needed an alpha male to put him in his place from time to time, not in a non-abusive way like Rem did, but in a loving, patient, understanding way. Charlie had no problem calling him out when he was being immature ("Go apologize to your sister for being an arsehole,") and pushed him to do adult things like care maintenance on the car he just bought and opening a real bank account.
And they both agreed the sex was out of this world. For Charlie it continued to be an adventure as Chris continued to find new areas of sensitivity for Charlie, different positions and get freakier as time passed. For Chris, he didn't know how he ever thought he would have the upperhand sexually; maybe for the first day or two, but Charlie was a quick learner and did everything with passion and sensuality. Charlie learned all the erogenous zones on Chris's body before he learned Charlie's, and made it a point to make sure he was sexually satisfied, daily.
Chris knew he had strong feelings for Charlie but kept them buried just beneath the surface in case Charlie ever wanted to talk about it. Because of the many deep conversations they have had about life, wordly politics, religion, magic, or culture, they never talked about how they felt about each other. And Chris understood why: Charlie was still struggling with his sexual identity, and to bring up feelings was also to bring up his feelings about being with a man, being public, and having friends and family members know. Chris understood the unspoken silence on the issue and was in no hurry to push Charlie along. As Charlie had said to him many months ago, when he was ready to talk about it, Chris would be the first to know.
Charlie came into the Reserve and automatically felt something was wrong. It was eerily quiet, no hustle and bustle of the day's events. He quickly went up the hill to see half of the day crew milling around with the night crew. Sarah came up to him. "London died a few hours ago. The boys wanted to start the funeral march, but Dale won't come out of his hut. No one knows what to do, so we're just waiting." Charlie signed deeply. Remembering the loss of Liu almost eight years ago, he understood all too well how Dale was feeling. Dale had been through many dragon deaths, but he knows how close he and London had gotten in a short period of time. Charlie started walking toward the hut and Benji stepped in his path. "He is just going to curse you out. Let him be," Benji growled at him. Charlie did not appreciate being stopped by him. He gave him a hard look, stepped around him and kept going. He did not knock when he got there, just opened the door and let himself in. Dale was sitting at the table, glass of bourbon in front of him with a bottle halfway done. He didn't look up when Charlie came in. Charlie sat at the table across from him and poured himself a glass, drank it quickly then held out his glass. Dale looked at him, then poured him another glass, filled his own glass halfway and they drank in silence. Dale then asked, "Those fuckers still out there?" "Yup," Charlie said. "Dale snorted. "Tell them to fuck off. Their shift is over." "And they will, right after the funeral march. They are waiting for you." Dale took another sip and took a long moment to respond. "I can't do this one, Charlie. I'm too bloody angry. He didn't even have long with us. Maybe two years? That wasn't enough to get over the damage they did to him. Fucking goblin cunts." "Well," said Charlie, "It was probably the best two years of his life, innit? He was free. Slept when he wanted, ate what he wanted, flew when he wanted. He had a best friend too, someone to look after him and care for him. To love him." Dale snorted again, then took another sip. "He deserves a proper magnificent funeral Dale, worthy of his life and his service." He grumbled, "Fuck off. I'm not going out there. I'm not." Charlie stood up. "Okay. I'll do it." Dale laughed. "You just learned how not to shit your pants, and you're going to lead a dragon funeral?" "Somebody has to do it and I sure as shit aren't letting Benji take the lead on this. Besides, I've been a part of three already." "Yeah?" said Dale. "The first one you cried so much I was ready to send you back to your mum with nappies. The second one you set off the wrong damn fireworks and almost took half the canyon out." "And I did fine with Dante, sweet vipertooth she was." "That's because I had you in the back with the Shitheads," retorted Dale. Charlie rolled his eyes and looked at his watch. It was minutes to 8pm. "I'm going to do a roll call and assign roles. We're lining up at 8:45pm and we're leaving exactly at 9pm. Come or don't come, but London's going in the ground by midnight. And it would be nice if the one person he loved and trusted the most was there to see him off." Charlie left Dale's hut and walked back over to the field where at least 60 men and Sarah were waiting. He started giving orders. "I need about 20 men to levitate, London is huge. 15 diggers and another 10, just in case. The rest will stay back and take care of dragons. Sometimes the dragons follow either on the ground or in the sky. If they do, let them, just keep an eye on them. Especially Robbie, he-" Benji cut him off and said loudly, "Who the fuck made you Lead?" Charlie said just as loudly, "If you wanted the fucking job then you should have stepped up Shithead. Why am I coming in doing it when he died hours ago?" "Because we were waiting on our actual leader, not some ginger haired dragon fuck playing dress up!" Benji yelled at him. Charlie took a step toward him and Sarah got in the middle with her hands outstretched to both of them. "Whoa. How about we do what Charlie is asking, so we can get this over with, Benj? No one is leading here. We're a team. And Dale needs us to pull together right now." She turned to the other men, "Lifters over here, Diggers over here, Back up over there. Let's go." She clapped her hands and people started moving. Benji glared at Charlie before he moved to where the lifters were. Charlie went to check on London's body. When he got into the valley to where London was, he found a Fixer already there, eyes red like he had been crying. "Hello?" Charlie called as he came closer. He looked familiar but Charlie couldn't place him. Charlie didn't know a lot of the guys on the day crew unless they were still in training. "I'm Charlie," he said, holding his hand out for a shake. The young man took it. "I'm Vladimir. Just Vlad, really. I know who you are, Charlie. Everyone knows who you are." Vlad said in his Russian accent. Charlie remembered him from the night Betta escaped. He looked down at London. The dragon was at least 25 feet long, gray scaly skin with pink scabs here and there. He looked like he was sleeping peacefully. Vlad spoke again, "It's my fault you know. I didn't watch him properly. If I did I would have seen the signs." He choked up a bit. Charlie put his hand on Vlad's shoulder. "He's been sick for a while. Dale noticed he had been eating less in the winter. I did too, notice he had been losing weight and sleeping restlessly at night in the last month. Something internally has been piercing him. There was nothing you could have done to prolong his life. He was old, he lived a hard life and he got to die in peace. He was grateful. And we should be too." Vlad sniffed again. "Have you done this before, Vlad? How long have you been here?" "Two years this past January. Sven tapped me after one year to move to Fixer." "Like me, huh? You must be something special." Vlad smiled at him. "I'm skilled with my wand. And I just have a way with animals in general. I would like to be a Tamer sooner rather than later, so I'm studying all I can." "Who's your coach?" "Tendai, under Honey, but also he has me Fixing under Anna. He said if he had room on his team he would take me but he doesn't." Charlie nodded. "Tendai is good. He was my coach too under my first dragon. You'll be a Tamer before you know it." Charlie motioned for him to follow him while they checked on the other dragons. Robbie was restless, making weird noises and pacing. Charlie told him, "He's distraught, he knows London has died. We will need to keep an eye on him for the next couple of weeks." They checked on Ben and Anna, who seemed fine. Charlie told him, "They will probably take flight and follow us. That's okay, that's how they show tribute." They went to Betta and Tommy was trying to coax her out of the corner. "She's confused," he told Vlad. "She was not close to him but she knows something is wrong. Tommy is trying to reassure her and he'll do this all night if he has to." "But I won't have to, right?" Tommy said to Charlie expectantly. "Because you're going to step in here, aren't you, boss?" "Nope. I have a dragon funeral to lead. You'll figure it out." But Charlie did go next to Betta, touched her face and spoke softly to her. She grunted then closed her eyes and allowed him to pet her. Then he walked back to Vlad. "I don't spend a lot of time with her," said Vlad. "I don't think she likes me." Tommy said, "This dragon bitch doesn't like anyone, it's her normal way. Now if she tried to bite you, then she hates you. But regular dislike is normal for her." Vlad laughed. "I'll take note of that and won't take it personally." Charlie said to Tommy, "Stay here and keep her company. Fed her venison if she wants to eat. If not, keep her hydrated. I will take over when I get back." He motioned to Vlad to follow him. "You're on digging. It's where you need to be tonight. There is no magic in the digging, except to soften the earth, to remind us that magic doesn't solve all of life's problems. It's also a reminder of how precious life is, and the work we do here." Vlad nodded. They walked back over to London where the rest of the Reservers part of the funeral march were waiting. He saw Benji with the diggers instead of lifters and that was surprising, considering his utter disdain for all creatures, much less dragons. Charlie remembered Chris at that moment for some reason and was grateful for the phone he gave him. "Hey," Chris said, surprised at the call. He was about to take his shower to get ready for his shift. "Hey. I don't think I will make it to patrol tonight. London died today and we're giving him a proper send off. The dragon march usually takes four hours minimum, so..." "Oh. Okay." Chris and Charlie are rarely apart so this would be one of those rare days. "So the morning then? Your place?" "Yes. If I'm going to be late I will let you know." "Okay. Hey Charlie? I'm sorry about London. I know he wasn't yours, but it still affects you. It's okay to feel. Just a reminder." "Thanks for the reminder," he said softly. "Until then." "Until then." Chris hung up first, glad he got the head's up so he can prepare himself for another lonely night. By the time Charlie went to change into his work uniform and made it back to London, and got everyone lined up with their assignments, it was 8:50pm. They were chattering softly when someone noticed Dale coming down the hill into the valley. A hush fell over as he walked down in the only wizard robe he owns – red silk with buttons down the front and large sleeves. He walked slowly and Charlie knew it was because he was shitfaced drunk and trying not to show it. Everyone was silent as he went to stand beside Charlie. Charlie looked at him for direction, but Dale motioned for him to start. Charlie called out, "Lifters!" 17 men said in unison, "Wingardium Leviosa!" pointing their wands at the forever sleeping dragon. He lifted about 20 feet in the air, wings spread out like he was flying. Sven, who pulled five men for drumming, began the slow pounding of the drums and they began to walk in silence, London floating right above them. About two miles of complete silence into their walk, Charlie started one of the dragon funeral choruses: "Oh Jenny oh Jenny, why did you go? My heart will never be the same. Oh Jenny, my Jenny you left me alone And now there's no one to tame. Oh Jenny, oh Jenny, you told me you'll stay But then you took off and you're gone Oh Jenny, my Jenny I thought you would stay But left me to sing this sad song." Those who knew it joined in, the rest learned it along the way and sang. Dale was the only one not singing. After a couple of kilometers in, the song died out and someone started another funeral chorus, then three more after that. After walking a little over two hours and a total of seven miles later, they made it to the edge of the valley where the dragons are laid to rest. They stopped while the diggers scouted for a good spot, and then the rest formed a circle around them as they dug. After a while of watching them, Dale left the circle, conjured up a shovel and joined them. Charlie did as well. Someone started up the choruses again and Sven and the drummers drummed while the others either sung or dug. Suddenly a shadow passed overhead, then two more. Robbie, followed by Ben and Anna had followed the funeral march and circled above, with Robbie continuing that terrible cry. Almost an hour later, the hole was 10 feet deep and 30 feet wide and the levitators lowered London into the hole. Everyone waited, but Charlie did not move. He looked at Dale. Dale walked over and climbed into the grave on top of London. He petted him, whispered in his ear, then climbed back out. He picked up his wand and cried, "Ventis Meteolo." Wind dusted up the dirt that they had just dug up and everyone hid their faces as it engulfed them. More than half of the dirt ended up on London coating him completely. Some others mimicked Dale, including Charlie and Vlad, and in minutes London was buried, his final resting place coated with pink tulips courtesy of the back up team. Charlie turned to the group. "Okay, you can start to apparate back but remember it will only take you about two kilometers away, you will have to walk in. Or you can walk back the whole way, it's up to you. Day crew, find a spot in the barracks, you're staying overnight, and will start your shift an hour after sunlight. That's when the night crew can leave." Charlie looked at his watch. It was minutes after midnight. He just might make it back in time for patrol with Chris if he apparated right now. Then he glanced around as others were either apparting on the spot or walking back into the valley, and Dale was sitting on a nearby boulder staring at the flowers. He walked over and sat next to him waiting for everyone to disappear. Chris will just have to wait until the morning. When they were alone, he put his hand on Dale's shoulder and said, "It's okay, you know. I'm here for you, the same way you were there for me with Liu died. This is hard, but just know if there is someone you can talk to, it's me." Dale slowly turned to Charlie. "Get your paws me before I jinx them off. Don't know where they've been. Probably up someone's arsehole." Charlie smiled and took his hand down. They sat in silence for a bit. Then Dale said, "Speaking of hands in arseholes, how is it going with you and the cocksucker? The literal cocksucker?" Charlie laughed. "You just had to go there didn't you? Always the unrefined Dale." Dale shrugged. "I just assumed there is a whole of cock sucking going on. No need to deny it now." Charlie shook his head. "We're fine. We're...really, really good." Dale grunted. "Still confused about it all I reckon." Charlie sighed. "It's been so crazy. When I'm with him there is no confusion at all. It's pretty perfect how well we fit together, how good we are. It's when I'm not with him, which is pretty rare by the way, because I never want to be away from him. But when we aren't in the same space, I'm so in my head over it, Dale. I spent 10 years on this Reserve and never looked at man, never. Now I'm wondering if I'm actually gay or do I just like this guy. And I really do like this guy. Wondering how I'm going to tell my parents, and if they will accept me. Wondering if or when I should go to the ministry over being with a muggle. If it's even worth it at this point." "It's not," Dale said. "Fuck that last part, we both know the damage has been done. Going to the ministry now will just get you a one way ticket to Azkaban. He already knows you're a wizard, just let it be." Charlie didn't speak for a moment, then said, "How did you know?" "Ha! You didn't Obliviate his arse from moment one, and that's not like you, Charlie. You think I believed you Obliviated him later on? Especially since you came back with this, `patrolling for safety' horseshit excuse to see him again and every day after that. No one spends that much time with someone unless you want to be close to them. And no one continues to spend that much time with someone closely and they don't know who you are. I married a muggle once, remember?" Charlie did, Dale's first wife was a muggle, the one he loved the most and passed away unexpectedly from an undiagnosed brain tumor. They were quiet for a moment, then Charlie sighed. "So what do I do?" "End it now, Obliviate him and move on," Dale said matter of factly. Charlie looked horrified. "Ah, can't do that can you? Then suck that shit up and keep it to yourself. Do you know how many wizards and witches are married to muggles pretending they know nothing? Fuck off with that honesty shit. The Statute of Secrecy Supporters don't want to hear it anyway. Literally, they don't. Do not tell them, they are jinxed and forced to tell or they descend into madness within 24 hours. They live by the, Don't ask, don't tell, rule, and you better do as well." Dale stood up. "You love him yet?" Charlie's heart skipped a beat. He said, "I don't know." Dale grunted, not believing him one bit. "Yeah well, when you do, make sure you hold onto him tight. You can be a real arrogant pain in the arse, so if anyone is willing to put up with you, you should keep them around." Charlie rolled his eyes. "Thanks Dale." Dale lifted up his palms. "Well hey. I say it because I care." Charlie laughed. Dale started walking and Charlie followed. They walked the two hours and talked about the Trainees and Fixers and who was next to be moved up. Dale said that Vlad was next in line to be a Tamer out of everyone, even the ones that had been Fixers longer. That he was smart, gentle with the animals and had a way about him, and Charlie should keep an eye on him. When they made it back Dale went straight to his cabin and Charlie went to check on the dragons. Ben and Anna were back, but Robbie was not. Betta was still in her corner and Tommy was laying next to her, asleep. He was pretty sure Betta was not sleeping although she did not move. Charlie went to lay on the other side of her head and thought about what Dale said. He knew he was right about his relationship; he had already fucked up and broke secrecy, but he couldn't imagine regretting it. Chris had already changed his life for the better.Dale spent the next three days in the cabin, leaving Sven, Charlie, Khalid, Benji and Sarah to make sure things went smoothly on the Reserve. That also meant Charlie could not leave the Reserve and worked round the clock. He and Chris spoke every morning and he snuck out every night at 11pm for a kiss, and again at 1am to patrol, but had to get back right afterwards. Sleeping alone was torture for the two of them.
On day three, Sarah went in there and stayed until the morning of day four. Whatever she said or did worked because Dale came out of his hut that afternoon and resumed his duties. During those three days Robbie had become more whiny and aggressive. Dale demoted his lead Tamer Vincent to second in line, fired his Fixers, and took over, which appeared to be all Robbie wanted because he got happy again having Dale's full attention.
Charlie's practically living on the reserve left little to no time for his relationship and they both felt it. But Chris was practicing not being selfish and immature and tried not to make Charlie feel bad about things beyond his control, like work duties, so held his tongue. So he was surprised when Charlie showed up on his doorstep four days later on a Saturday early afternoon. He and Charity had just settled in for a movie marathon when his doorbell rang.
His eyes went wide as Charlie said, "Got the next three days off, I don't go back until Tuesday!" They kissed and embraced as Chris led him inside.
Charity said upon seeing him, "Guess that's it for me then." She started getting up.
"No, stay," Charlie said. "I'm intruding. I can come ba-"
"How about we all stay and watch a movie?" Chris suggested.
So they laid around and watched, Chris on the long couch with Charlie on the floor next to him and Charity curled up on the love seat. Charlie quickly fell asleep, as he was unable to get a good night's rest the last couple of days having to be alert on the Reserve. He was awakened hours later, Charity gone and Chris's wet lips around his penis. Chris's blow job was always more intense and precise, making Charlie come hard and he swallowed all of him.
Charlie moved Chris off then repositioned himself to lay sideways to suck Chris off and stroke at the same time until he felt Chris's dick go ridged, then exploded in his mouth. There was so much cum that Charlie had to keep swallowing to contain it all. It wasn't the first time he had swallowed Chris, but it was probably the most he had swallowed in one sitting and it gratified him more than anything. Chris came up and faced Charlie for a kiss. They kissed for a while tasting each other's cum, then Chris came up for air first, and laid on Charlie's chest.
"I don't like it when we are apart," Chris said softly.
"I don't either. Every day it felt like something was missing," Charlie said rubbing his back. He thought about what Dale asked him, if he loved Chris and remembered how his heart skipped. It scared him to think the real possibility in such a short period of time was that the answer is yes.
A couple of weeks later at the end of April, Charlie came into work and Dale called him immediately into the office he rarely used. "We received an owl from a village in Chad, North Africa, the Sahara region. A boy found a dragon egg almost two years ago and hatched it. Turns out it's a Hungarian Horntail. He thought he could raise it on his own in the nearby mountains, but it's proven too much for him now. The villagers got a hold of the dragon and put an invisible cage around it, afraid he is going to burn the village down. They want us to take it away, as soon as possible. I'm giving you the mission." Charlie tried to keep his face as stoic as possible but inside he was shocked, scared, nervous and very excited. He let Dale continue. "Pick your team, no more than 20 men. Bring it back alive if you can. If not, bury it out there." Charlie knew he was next in line to head a mission, he just didn't think it would happen any time soon. He's only been on one other mission, and that was to bring Robbie here years ago. He was pretty much used as a guard in Squad B and it was simple and easy enough, but this seemed more dangerous. He was honored that Dale had this much trust in him. "You're not going with us?" "No. Sven will if you ask him." Charlie nodded. "When do we leave?" "36 hours. It's urgent but not high-critical, it's been there a few days already so a few more won't hurt. And we need to do it right so take your time and pick carefully. Horntails can be nasty beasts. So create your team, go kiss your beau and be back here by 7am Wednesday morning sharp. Flyers are leaving at 8am." Charlie nodded again, becoming lost in thought. Chris is not going to be happy about being away from him, was his first thought. And he also thought about how dangerous this mission was. While he was eager to go, a part of him realized he had something to come back to which made the stakes higher, and for the first time since working on the Reserve he was afraid for his own life. Dale watched him intently. "If you don't want it..." Charlie said quickly. "No, I want it!" He shook Dale's hand. "Thank you. I am honored that you trust me with this. I won't let you down." He left to drop his stuff off as Dale called after him, "Yeah well, just don't die." Charlie went to one of the training rooms above the barracks that had a blackboard, grabbed chalk and picked his team. Out of 20, he knew at least seven of them had to be Hunters. Which means Benji. He groaned a bit inside. But if he was going to lead a successful mission, he knew he needed the best on his team, and Benji was the best, hands down. Also Benji's unflinching willingness to protect human life above all else was counter to his desire to protect human and creature. He realized exasperatingly he needed Benji not just on his team, but part of his leadership. He sighed and picked his Hunters: Sahid, Kristoff, Gideon, Jamie, Romalus, Mike, and Benji. He needed a Healer and naturally he chose Felix, one of his best friends who came over with him from Hogwarts. Felix is a Ravenclaw and is probably the smartest man he knows. Tommy knocked then came in. "Hey Captain, my Captain, I was looking for you- what are you doing?" Charlie sighed. "Don't say anything yet but...I'm tapped for a mission." "Bloody fucking brilliant mate!!!" Tommy yelled. "Shut the fuck up Tommy, sheeesh! The last thing I need is people finding out and begging to be a part of the mission." "Oh yeah right. Because that would be awful." Tommy let one second pass, then said, "But you're taking me, right?" Charlie smiled and shook his head. "If I take you, who is watching Betta? Don't you have a responsibility right now?" Tommy looked crestfallen. "You...really not going to take me Charlie?" "I can't do this based on favorites, Tommy. I have to do this smart and pick the best of the best, make sure this goes well. You understand, right?" Tommy nodded but still looked sad. But then perked up. "Can I at least help you pick? I know more of these guys than you do, I work days and nights." "Sure Tommy. I could definitely use the help." Tommy came over and went through what he had done so far. "Benji! Fuck all hell, you can't take him with you! Switch him out for Ned, he's been here longer." Charlie shook his head. "Benji is sharper. I told you, I'm not doing this based on favorites. I need the best." "Well then now I'm glad I'm not going," Tommy said curtly. Charlie laughed. Benji hates Tommy and broke his nose a few months after Tommy got here. Tommy has been scared of him ever since but won't say it out loud, he just keeps his distance. That's the real reason he has stayed so close to Charlie, because he knows Charlie would never let Benji put hands on him again, and Charlie knew it. "Tell me which Fixers and Dungers I should take." Together they created the list: five Fixers that he could trust to follow his orders – Jesse, who is actually Anna's Tamer and his other best friend, Demitri, Ollie, Lucas and Vlad. Then he picked four Dungers that have been in training the longest. This will be the opportunity to prove themselves and get picked for paid assignments. Together they decided on Dylan, Greyson, Mateo and Liam, the latter two guys he did not know but Tommy swore they were good. He looked at his list and realized he had all of his Hogwarts chums there except Khalid. He wrote his name down. They stood back and looked at the list of 18 men. Tommy said, "This is good. You'll do well." Charlie looked at him and smiled. "Not quite, I need one more." He wrote Tommy's name down next to Vlad. Tommy looked stunned, then screamed, "HOLY FUCKING HELL I'M GOING!!!" He jumped in Charlie's arms and wrap his feet around his waist. making Charlie laugh. "Get the fuck off me, you brainless cunt!" Once he got Tommy settled, they created the four standard squads: Squad D, The Perimeter monitors things from outside and around the village, keeping everyone safe. He put 5 people there: Hunter Jamie, Hunter Mike, Fixer Ollie, and Dunger Liam and Dunger Dylan. Squad C, The Corral keeps the people inside the village safe, calm and happy. Their job is to spend time with the villagers, get to know local customs and gain their trust. He put 5 men there: Hunter Sahid and his brother Khalid, Fixer Lucas, Fixer Demetri, and Dunger Grayson. Next was Squad B, The Preservation. They are Charlie's immediate security team, the ones he will rely on to take orders from him and execute the plan. He chose his 7: Tamer Jesse, Tamer Tommy, Fixer Vlad, Dunger Mateo, Hunter Kristoff, Hunter Romalus and Hunter Gideon. And last was leadership, Squad A. Along with Charlie himself, it would be Sven, Felix and Benji. Of course Tommy begged to be on leadership "I can help, honest!" But Charlie told him no about seven times before he threatened to take him off altogether, and that shut him up. Then Charlie concealed the board. After Charlie chose his crew, he sent Red Sparks to the 18 men plus Sven. The ones that were already on site came in wondering what it was about. More than half of them were day crew so they had to wait until everyone arrived before Charlie started talking, and everyone was surprised that it was Charlie who sent for them and not Dale who was not in the room. Sarah who was on site came in with Felix to find out what was going on as well. When he told them about the mission, a hush came over, then a buzz of excitement as they all started talking at once. He told them, "You can say no, or you can agree to go, but I need to know before you leave this room if someone else is to take your place." Not one person refused, and even Sarah said, "I'm going too. Felix is great, but I want to go on this mission and you can't stop me." "Well I'm number 20 so that would make you number 21 and Dale specifically said no more than 20. I'm not canceling one of my men because you want to take the ride," Charlie told her sternly. Sarah got up and stood in front of him. He crossed his arms looking down at the short older woman. She said, "Charlie Weasley, I am 40 years older than you and have more experience in my pinky than you have in your left testicle. You will not stop me from going on this mission and neither will Dale. And if you try, you will wake up with them glued together for the next 6 months. Dale told you 20 men. I'm a woman. I'm going." And with that, she left. Charlie shook his head, but didn't say anything else about it. He turned back to the men. "It's now..." He checked his watch. "10:02pm. Everyone, go home, including the Night Crew. Get some much needed rest, practice your charms and jinxes if you need to. Be back here by 7am sharp Wednesday morning. I will give you your assignments and last minute instructions, then we are in the skies no later than 8am." Everyone started filtering out excitedly. Benji walked over to Charlie and Tommy instinctively stood at Charlie's side with a scowl on his face. Benji looked at Tommy and scoffed, then said to Charlie, "Call your mutt off, will you?" Charlie resisted the urge to say something nasty, instead exhaled and said, "You need something Benji?" "Yeah. What are you playing at? Why did you pick me on your team? Plan on leaving me in the Sahara there?" Charlie said, "No. I picked the best. You lead the Hunters because you're the best Hunter. I need you on this mission." Benji continued to eye him suspiciously so Charlie gave him all of it. "You're in Squad A. I need your leadership. It's not about me or you. It's about making sure these boys in my care come back safe and alive. Can you put your feelings aside and do that? Because I can. If you can't, then walk out and I will put someone else there." Benji stared at him intently. Then nodded. "See you in two days," he said and left. As soon as he did, Tommy puffed out air as if he was holding it in. "Whew I really thought Benji was going to say something to make you hit him. Then I'd have to jump on his back and bite him like a kneazle, then he'd beat the shit out of me, but that's ok because I would be honored to get my ass beat for you, Oh Captain, my Captain." He smiled at Charlie, who looked at him in disbelief. "You're so fucking weird, Tommy." ~~~ At 10:50pm Charlie left as well to catch Chris in the beginning of his shift. Chris was surprised to see him in the doorway. Elijah, the newest Ranger, hadn't even left yet when he saw his lover, still in the street clothes he had on when they left his house that evening. Once he did, Chris turned his attention to Charlie. "Well this is a nice surprise. What's...going on?" "Sit down, I got some news," Charlie said, and sat at the round table. "What, you're pregnant?" Chris joked as he sat down as well. Charlie smiled. "Not at the moment." He cleared his throat. "There is a mission that I've been asked to lead. As the Senior Dragonologist-" Chris cut him off, "Wait, did you say Dragonologist? Is that a real word or made up word? Like, do you have an actual degree that says Masters in Dragonology? Because if so, I need to see it for clarification purposes." Chris laughed. Charlie didn't. He ignored Chris's last statement and started again. "As the Senior Dragonologist on the Reserve, it will be my responsibility to lead a crew and contain the dragon needing preservation and bring him or her back to the Reserve in one piece. I have already assembled my crew. We leave in less than 36 hours. Approximately 32 hours now." Charlie waited. Chris finally realized what Charlie was saying. "So you're leaving." "Yes." "On..." Chris did the math in his head. "Wednesday morning?" "Yes." "To capture a dragon that is hurt somehow?" "Contain. We do not capture dragons. We contain them and bring them to a safe location. Most likely the Reserve." "Okay, contain a dragon. Where are you going, I don't think you said?" "I didn't. Central Chad in North Africa." Chris nodded. "Ah-ha, and for how long, I don't think you said that either...?" Charlie hesitated. "Normal recognizance takes 3-5 days, more or less." Chris felt his chest squeeze a bit hearing the time they would be apart and decided to make a joke. "Ah-ha. Is this your way of breaking up with me, Charlie?" "Bloody hell, Chris, can you just be serious right now?" Charlie said, annoyed. "Okay, okay!" Chris relented. Charlie sat back and didn't look Chris in the eye. Chris asked, "So how dangerous is this mission?" "It's...nothing I haven't done before." Charlie said, still looking away. Chris didn't say anything. He knew it was far more dangerous than Charlie let on. He decided to joke again, hoping it didn't anger Charlie too much. "Will you bring me something back from your trip?" Charlie looked at him and smiled. "Sure. I'll bring you a key chain." "So," Chris said, "What are you going to be doing for the next 32 hours? I'm assuming not working but getting ready for your mission?" Charlie just looked at Chris and let his eyes answer him. Chris understood and nodded slowly. "Well. Make yourself comfortable. I got a shit load of incident reports to archive into the system." Chris got up and sat at the desktop computer near the switchboard, and opened up the folder to start data entering. Charlie took off his shoes and laid in the bed. They didn't talk as Charlie laid thinking about the mission and Chris tried not to think about it, so he put on music instead. Two hours later they patrolled together at 1am and Chris asked, "So tell me about your team. Who's on it? Tommy?" "Yes." They talked about his decision to add Benji, how Sarah got around the 20 men rule and how he accidentally added all of his friends to be a part of his crew as well. "That's okay," Chris said. "You need people who you can trust with your life. Those guys are it." When they got back to the Tank, Charlie went to the bed again and Chris laid beside him. They turned to lay on their sides and face each other, legs entwined. Charlie reached over and traced Chris's lips with his finger. Chris opened his mouth and sucked his finger seductively. Charlie laughed. "Do you have to be crude all the time?" Chris said, "And you wouldn't want it any other way." They laid together another few moments and then Charlie said, "Tell me something you've never told me before." "Like what?" "Tell me...about your first girlfriend." Chris laughed. "Ah well I can't tell you about my first girlfriend without telling you about my first boyfriend." Charlie laughed. "Only you would have one in the same. Okay. Tell me." So Chris told him about Ramesh Ang, the Bangladesh boy he met freshman year of high school. They were on the same track team with Chris Holten, who he calls Other Chris, Jaxon, Mikel and Ezekiel called Zeke. The six of them became fast friends, being all freshmen and the youngest ones on the team, paying their due and proving their worth together. But he and Ramesh became closer, being the only brown kids on the team, and two of four in their entire grade. They would hang out at each other's house, play video games and practice running and timing each other. "One day after practice, we found ourselves alone in the locker room and I don't even remember what we were talking about but he was looking at me all funny, then asked me out of nowhere, Do you want a blow job? I was shocked. If he had a crush on me, he never showed his hand until that very moment. But I said as calmly as I could, Yeah, okay. And he just got down between my legs, pulled out my dick and bobbed his head up and down until I came." Charlie asked, "Were you attracted to boys by then?" "Honestly I don't know," Chris said. "I found him to be handsome I guess, he reminded me of Aladdin which was my favorite Disney movie at the time. I found people in general attractive, or body parts really are what attracted me: lips, hands, shapes of bottoms, you know. I had seen a porno or two by then courtesy of Other Chris, and I would watch both partners move and both turned me on. I mean, I had a crush on Mr. Stephanopoulos, but who didn't, with that olive skin, jet black hair, hazel eyes. I'm pretty sure half the faculty wanted to fuck him, men and women. "But Ramesh and I, we never flirted, not once. No sexual jokes traded between us. Nothing. So I really have no idea where it came from and I don't know why I readily said yes either, but I did, and then he did and it was soooo much better than jerking myself off. He jumped out of the way when I came but I didn't care. I didn't know swallowing was a thing at 14 anyway." Charlie laughed. "So naturally I said afterward, let me do you. And honestly to me it was better than getting an actual blow job. I felt him grow in my mouth and I didn't do anything but bob up and down and squeeze my cheeks in from time to time until he came in my mouth. I spit it out, but not before I moved it around in my mouth a bit. I couldn't believe I did that for him, everything about it made me feel so..." he trailed off. "Powerful." Charlie finished for him. Chris smiled, "Yes. You would know what that feels like now wouldn't you?" Charlie smiled back. Chris continued. "Well after that it was on. We would find reasons to be alone and then blow each other. At school, at my house, at his house, in the park, in these woods. Didn't matter. Then this fucker ups and gets a girlfriend on me! Right before Christmas break he starts talking to us about how he asked out Nami, one of the cheerleaders. I think that was his way of telling me, because he said it nonchalantly as we sat around after practice, but he looked at me. I was fucking pissed, but I never brought it up the whole week we were off. "The first day back to school, I walked right up to Jessica Bladvik, head cheerleader, tall, blonde hair, icy blue eyes, Icelandic goddess, kind of a bitch but she was so beautiful she got away with it. I walked up to her and said in French, because I knew she spoke it, "Will you be my girlfriend?" And she says back to me in French, `What the fuck took you so long to ask me?' I kissed her right on the field in front of everyone. And just like that, I had a girlfriend out front, and a boyfriend in the closet. For the next year and a half, through the rest of freshman year and sophomore year." "Get the fuck out of here!" Charlie laughed. "I'm serious. Jessica and Nami became best friends because of how much time the four of us hung out. Then Other Chris nabbed Staci-Ann right after that and the six of us did everything together. By the time summer hit, we were inseparable. We spent a lot of time in these very woods by the lake, breaking into cabins on the Northside where we would eat up all the food, watch movies and sometimes porn, again courtesy of Other Chris. But any time we were alone Ramesh and I would blow each other. Everyone would be downstairs or on one side of the woods and he and I would be on the other, face fucking each other. "By sophomore year Ramesh and Nami started actually fucking so that was annoying. But he knew not to fuck her and then have me blow him though. That was like our unwritten rule, we kept the girlfriend stuff separate. I wasn't sexing Jessica yet though, I was still a virgin in the purest sense of the word. She would let me touch her but she was not giving it up, and honestly I was still getting my nob slobbed at least twice a week so I wasn't too pressed to pressure her which she really liked about me. "But then he drops a bomb on me toward the end of sophomore year. Again he says it after a track meet when we're all together, track team, cheerleaders, at a celebratory dinner. He says his grandmother is sick and the whole family is moving back to Bangladesh to care for her, right after the school year is over. And he's looking at me when he says it. I'm fucking crushed. We had all these plans to go to college and get an apartment together. Obviously the girls could come too, we needed a cover. But now he's going and didn't know if he could or would ever come back. As time got closer, we both were antsy. We were either fighting or face fucking but we weren't talking about him leaving. "Two days before he had to get on a plane, we threw him a party at his house, Other Chris's idea of course. His parents had left a couple of days before that and left his older sister in charge and she said to us, Do what you want. And half the school showed up, definitely everyone in our year and it was like a Rave, we trashed the house so badly. By 3am it dwindled down to just the three couples, the six of us again. First the girls left together, then Other Chris who lived a block away headed out. Ramesh asked me to stay the night and I said yes. "We went upstairs to his room and started making out on his bed. Then he told me he needed a favor from me: He wanted me to fuck him. He took out a 9 inch dildo and some anal balls, said he had been practicing for months so it wouldn't hurt." Charlie was laughing so hard that Chris had to quiet him down. "Listen, listen!! So I said Okay, got the baby oil he had and basically poured the whole bottle on him and me. I tried to get it in a few times but apparently he wasn't practicing right because my head wouldn't fit. Or maybe because the dildo was straight and not shaped like a dick I don't know, but it wasn't going in at first. Then I just lost a little patience I think and just rammed it in there and he screamed so loud and clamped on my dick with his butt cheeks that when I pulled out I ended up cumming all over myself. And the fucker laughed at me! I was so pissed and embarrassed..." But he stopped telling the story because Charlie was laughing so hard tears were coming out of his eyes at this point. "Oh God, oh God that is fucking hilarious!" he continued to laugh. "Fuck off Charlie, I want to hear about your first time next." But he laughed with him. When Charlie regained control of himself, he said, "You know, when I asked you about your first time, you told me about Rem, not this one." Chris shrugged. "I guess I didn't consider this losing my virginity. I feel like this is more Ramesh's first time, his story to tell." Charlie nodded and Chris continued, "So after he stopped laughing, we just laid in the bed and held each other. I think he was afraid to go. Afraid of never having this again with a boy. You can't be gay in countries like Bangladesh you know. So we kissed and held each other and listened to his sister fuck her boyfriend's brains out until it aroused us again and we ended up 69ing, then fell asleep. "The next morning Other Chris and Jaxon came by to help Ramesh finish packing up his room and I'm still there in the same clothes I had on last night. Jaxon had no clue but I found out later on that Other Chris knew almost the whole time, but at that time he made no mention of it. We helped him pack up his room and his dad came home that night so I wasn't staying over. And that was that, he got on a plane and I never saw him again. I did find out he keeps in touch with Other Chris which should annoy me but I get why he doesn't talk to me. I know he's married to a woman with three kids. And he probably has a boyfriend on the side." Charlie asked, "Was he your first love?" "You know looking back I believe he was. But we never said it to each other." So what happened with Jessica?" "Oh I popped her cherry about two weeks later. Hers and mine." Charlie laughed and shook his head. Chris said, "I kind of feel bad now because after Ramesh left I did start putting pressure on her and she gave in. Or maybe she was ready too. She was already 16 and waiting for me to catch up. We had sex every day all summer and I am still shocked I did not get her pregnant. Then I met Rem in my Junior year and I started pulling away from her. We broke up by the start of winter." There goes that name again that keeps popping up, Charlie thought to himself. But he let Chris continue. "I still see her once in a while, her and Staci-ann are still best gals and Staci-ann and Other Chris are married and still my best mates. She is married and has a beautiful daughter." "Did you love her?" "Oh yeah, I loved her for sure. I said it first, no hesitation, before we had sex." Charlie paused, then said, "You know, when people ask you about your first time, or your first love, you should tell them that story, not the Rem one. This is so much better. And it's so you." Chris smiled. They laid in bed in silence for a few moments. Then Chris spoke, "I should have said it earlier, but I'm proud of you, Charlie. You worked hard to achieve leadership status, proven yourself over and over again, and Dale finally rewarded you. You deserve to lead this mission. And you'll do great. I believe in you." Charlie leaned over to touch his face in gratitude. Chris took his hand and kissed it, then pulled Charlie closer to kiss him. They kissed and groped each other until Chris got on top of Charlie and started dry humping him. Charlie came up for air. "Uh-uh, no fucking in the Tank." Chris groaned and got off him. Then Charlie said, "I know it's your turn, but come home with me. I want you in my space today." "Okay," Chris agreed. He turned his back to Charlie and Charlie draped his arm around him. They spooned and talked until the sun rose, then moved to the table for Sasha's arrival. They left holding hands, Charlie long since lost his embarrassment and shyness around Sasha, and made their way to Charlie's place. When they arrived, Chris said he would cook breakfast rather than buy at the Atrium and Charlie said okay, but he still needed to go downstairs for something. He returned 30 minutes later as the food was almost done with nothing in his hands. Chris asked, "Where did you go?" "I had to pick something up real quick." "Liiiiiike?" Charlie didn't answer, he just sat at the table. Chris brought over the plates and they ate in silence. As Chris sipped his tea toward the end of his meal, Charlie took something out of his pocket and held it up. It was a mini key chain that resembled a wand and a silver key attached to the ring. Chris was confused at first. It's the key to the Atrium and my place. So you can come and go as you please. When you approach the outside door in the alleyway, hold up the wand. It's like a key fab that lets you in under my name. The silver key is the actual key to my apartment." Chris's heart caught up before his mind did. "Are you asking...you want me to...move in?" He slowly took it from Charlie and twirled it around in his fingers as he talked. "I want you to have access to my place whether I am here or not. If you want to move in some of your things or all of your things, either way it's fine by me. As long as you know, it's your home too." Charlie shrugged. Chris was speechless. He knew this was a big step for Charlie and their relationship. This was the closest he has ever come to telling or showing Chris how he felt about him, and it meant everything to him that Charlie cared this much to essentially ask him to live with him. He got up and straddled Charlie, kissed him, gyrated against his groin and sucked his neck until a big purple bruise showed up. Then Charlie tapped Chris's leg so he could get up and take it to the room. They made love, first Chris inside of Charlie, then Charlie inside of Chris and fell asleep. Charlie woke up first a few hours later and straddled a sleeping Chris as he laid on his stomach and fucked him awake until he came, then rolled over and went back to sleep. Chris, who couldn't go back to sleep after that, got out of bed and started making dinner. He decided to stay naked just in case Charlie wanted him again. He showered and cooked lamb chops in mint sauce, Mediterranean pasta and a carrot and peas vegetable blend, Charlie's favorite meal. Charlie woke in the late afternoon and laughed at Chris cooking in nothing but an apron on, bare arse poking out the back. He went to take a shower and Chris called out of work. Sarah agreed to take his double shift in exchange for him working Saturday afternoon. They ate dinner and talked of fantastic beasts and Charlie's Zouzu rug that Chris had never asked him about until now, and about Chris's track record in high school and college. As night fell Chris let Charlie know he called out of work. "I'm here with you all night," he said, and Charlie was grateful. Charlie turned off all the lights, put on instrumental music, lit a fire in the fireplace although it wasn't cold outside, and floated candles all throughout the apartment so they only saw each other by the light and shadows of candles and fire. He took off the sweatpants he put on after his shower out of habit, and said to Chris, "Join me on the Zouzu," and he obliged. Charlie showed him what else he bought: a bottle of sensual massage oil and intimate gel, and a mixture of lavender, jojoba, cedarwood and guarana extract for intensity and stamina. He told his lover, "I got you all night." Charlie began my massaging Chris's body all over from scalp to heel, leaving his genitals untouched and aching. Then he had Chris do the same for him, but Chris could not help himself and licked his entire groin area from front to back, never finishing the massaging of his legs. They took turns entering each other again on the Zouzu skinned rug in front of the fireplace, alternating positions, slow and intentional, the feel of the slipperiness of the massage oil making it easier for their bodies to mold together in any position they ended up in, giving each other multiple anal orgasms but stopping just short of ejaculation as neither of them wanted to be the one to end their marathon love making session. A little over two hours later they silently agreed to come together, with Chris on top of Charlie and Charlie's hand wrapped around his shaft firmly, moving as Chris moved. Their bodies agreed for them; As Charlie felt Chris's rectum close tightly around him and he knew he was on the verge of climaxing himself, he stroked him faster and held his own release until he felt Chris's penis begin to spasm in his hand. They moved into a blinding climax together, the outward cries of pleasure harmonizing Charlie's deep "aaahh's" to Chris's higher ones, then held each other as they came down together. Chris lifted himself up to remove Charlie from inside of him, and then laid on top of him, where their soft groins touched. They laid there silently, the love swarming between them but neither dared to say it first, for fear that the other's feelings would not match the intensity of their own. Instead they fell asleep by the fire, leaving the question and the answer to linger in the air. They both rose around 6am together, deciding to 69 until they came in each other's mouths before showering. Charlie could have apparated, especially since time was of the essence, but wanted to have these moments with Chris and he knew Chris needed them. He drove them to the forest and parked near the Tank, then they walked to the Reserve entrance hand in hand. When they arrived, Chris thought he was going to make a "don't die on me" joke but couldn't find the words, so he stood there with his heart aching. Charlie likewise felt his chest constricting and he pulled Chris into a tight embrace, and they leaned their heads on each other's shoulders. After a couple of seconds Chris started singing You and Me by Lifehouse softly in his ear: What day is it? And in what month? This clock never seemed so alive I can't keep up and I can't back down, I've been losing so much time 'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do, nothing to lose And it's you and me and all of the people And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right I'm tripping on words, you've got my head spinning I don't know where to go from here 'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do, nothing to prove And it's you and me and all of the people And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you... It almost brought tears to Charlie's eyes and he had to swallow them away. He realized how truly beautiful Chris's voice was. How beautiful a soul he had. And how lucky he was that he found him in the woods that night. He held him tighter. They both heard the sound of a breaking twig at the same time and looked up. Vlad was standing there looking sheepish. "I'm..I'm so sorry Charlie. I was.. I was just trying to get in without...without disturbing...you..." he trailed off. Chris made to pull away but Charlie held onto his waist with one arm. He said, "It's ok Vlad. Tell Dale I will be up in a minute." Vlad nodded and quickly disappeared into the tree. Chris said, "Well. If your friends and crew didn't know before they will know now." "I don't give a shit," said Charlie sternly. Chris smiled and turned to face him. "Charlie. Please be safe. Don't be a hero if you don't absolutely have to. I need you back." Charlie pulled him back into an embrace with both arms around his midsection and said, "It's just a couple of days. I'm coming back home to you." They kissed, then Charlie checked his watch. 7:15am. He knew he had to go now and so did Chris. He kissed Chris on his eyelids, forehead, nose, left cheek, right cheek, softly on the lips again, took both of his hands from around his waist and kissed them separately, touched his face and kissed him passionately on the lips pulling his bottom lip, then turned around and quickly walked into the tree without a goodbye, knowing he didn't have to say the words. And only then did Chris let the tears fall from his eyes as he walked to his car. Chris drove back to Charlie's house and let himself in with his key. He laid on the rug that still smelled of the night before, tasting Charlie on his tongue.Charlie was trying to get focused as he walked up the hill but his head was spinning and all he could see, taste, smell and think about was Chris. His team was milling around the Flyer when he walked up. Vlad was trying to catch his eye but he ignored him. Before he could say something Dale barked at him.
"CHARLIE! You're fucking late!" he growled.
Charlie lost it. He said nastily, "Is it 8 o'clock, then? Then I'M NOT FUCKING LATE!"
Everyone froze as Dale jumped in Charlie's face in a couple of strides and they stood nose to nose. They all knew Dale had no issue plummeting them and Charlie likewise thought Dale was going to punch him, but he refused to back down, staring him right in the eyes. Maybe a part of him wanted Dale to hit him, to feel something other than the emptiness leaving Chris out there had left him. But instead, after a few moments Dale sniffed, spat on the ground in front of Charlie, then walked away. Everyone was shocked, even Benji, whose wide eyes betrayed him.
Charlie closed his eyes and took some deep breaths before he turned back to his crew. He said, "Everyone on the Flyer, now. We have a four hour flight ahead and if everyone is here, we're taking off. I will give you your assignments on the way." He went to the back to take inventory of food and supplies, and got on the transport last, taking his seat behind the driver, Silas. Sasha and Felix sat across from him on the other side and they rose in the air by 7:30am.
Charlie was grateful for the silence as they started their journey. He assumed that he was going to start thinking of strategies to put in place but of course his mind kept wandering to Christopher Jennings and the last 24 hours. Was it love? He didn't know, but he knew Chris was deep under his skin now, and he couldn't let him go even if he wanted to. After 30 minutes he leaned back and closed his eyes. He honestly did not care if Vlad told the whole Reserve, he couldn't imagine hiding his relationship or holding back his feelings for him anymore.
As if on cue, Charlie felt someone slid into the empty seat next to him. He opened one eye, looked at Vlad, then closed it again. Great, he thought. Vlad started, "Can I ask you a question Charlie?" He asked quietly.
Here we go, thought Charlie. "Speak." he said without opening his eyes.
"I mean...I don't want to pry, but I happened to notice your..." his voice trailed off as Charlie opened one eye again to look at him. Vlad found his voice again, "um...you're friend and you are...close. And I have a similar type...friend...and...and we're close. Just...just not...openly... close..." his voice trailed off again as his eyes pleaded with Charlie to understand, which he did.
So Vlad is gay, great, Charlie thought. He asked, still looking at him with one eye, "What's your question, Vladimir?"
"I just wanted to know if you had any advice...on how to be more open with...with my friend." He whispered the last part.
Charlie laughed out loud and closed his eyes again. "Well your first step is to probably stop whispering about it like you're going to die if you say it out loud."
Vlad went pink. "No one knows about me. About us. My muggle family is very religious and they would kill me, disown me, I don't know which would be worse. And his family...they are rich and snobbish pure bloods and have to keep appearances. Even if I were a woman I wouldn't be good enough for them. So when it started, we just kept it to ourselves. And now...Now he wants more. And I don't know if I am capable of giving him more than what it is right now." Vlad sighed in sadness.
Charlie could not believe someone was asking him for same-sex relationship advice when he barely knew what he was doing himself. So Charlie opened his eyes and turned to him, deciding to give him practical advice instead. "Two questions: First, Do you love him?"
"Yes," Vlad said automatically. "I couldn't imagine my life without him for a second."
Charlie said, "Okay," thinking about his own feelings for Chris. Then asked, "Second question: What do you want?"
Vlad sighed. "I want...I want to live in a world where I didn't have to worry about what anyone thought, and we could just be together."
"And why can't you have that now?" Charlie asked.
"Because our parents won't allow it," he said factually.
Charlie was confused. "How old are you? I'm assuming you are of age."
Vlad answered, "I'm 20, yes. He is 19 years old, turning age 20 later on this year."
"So you are both adults, I'm going to also assume he has a job like you do, neither of you are living off your parents?"
"Well no, he has his own flat and he works yes, for his father. But he does have a very hefty trust fund he is supposed to inherit at 21. But he already said he would give it all up for me. A couple of million galleons I think."
Charlie raised his eyebrow. "Really? When did he tell you that?"
"Last night. When he proposed marriage."
"Whaaat?" Charlie saw Sarah and Felix look at each other over Vlad's head. They were definitely listening and he had a feeling a few more guys were listening as well. He said to Vlad, "He asked you to marry him?"
"It's not the first time. It's probably the third time really."
"He asked you to marry him three times and you told him no?"
"I didn't say no. Just...let's wait and see."
"Wait and see? What are you waiting for?" Charlie asked in disbelief.
"I...I don't know...we don't even live in the same country right now. He's in Moldova back home with his parents, and I'm here on the Reserve. He wants to move here but I just moved up and only a year ago could afford to move out of the barracks, and now I'm in Jesse's house full of men and I got some money saved but it's not enough because he comes from a life that I could never give him and maybe I don't think I'm good enough for him either." Vlad said in one breath.
Charlie understood. "So it's not just the coming out part. It's not feeling worthy of him, part. Has he ever given you a reason to feel that way? I doubt it if he's giving it all up for you."
"No...it's me, I know it's me. And we've been together for too long for me to feel this way, but saying you want to be together forever and then actually doing it no matter what may come... it's scary, you know."
Charlie nodded. "How long have you been together?"
"Five years in September."
Charlie's eyes went wide again as Sarah and Felix exchanged looks a second time. "Five years, Vladimir? Bloody hell Vlad, will you marry the poor fucker already?"
Vlad smiled. "Well when you put it like that-"
Sarah cut him off. "You know if I had a beau for five years that asked me three times to marry him and he's giving up his inheritance for me, to come here so I can live out my dream of riding dragons, I would jump on that in a heartbeat. Love like that doesn't come around too often."
Vlad looked at her terrified that someone knew his secret. But others were chiming in with advice as well. Ollie from Beauxbatons in France, who was sitting behind them and also lives in Jesse's five bedroom house said, "It sounds like it's more of a, What you think of you, problem, not what your parents will think."
Lucas, who came into the Reserve with Vlad, was sitting right next to Ollie and lives with them and agreed, "Yup. And you know I understand why you would keep it a secret as kids. Especially at Durmstrang. There is this image of men and masculinity so you have to keep up appearances all the time. If you are gay you shut up about it or your get beaten up, literally. You and Alexi aren't the only ones Vlad, trust me. But you aren't at Durmstrang anymore. Be who you are. Fuck societal norms."
Vlad gasped that Lucas knew who he was talking about. Charlie touched his shoulder in support as others spoke up.
Romulus, who also went to Durmstrang but years ahead of them, was a couple rows back and spoke up. "I got a cousin like that, also went to school with us. We all know he likes men but he won't even admit it to himself. He plays football and Quidditch, burliest man you'll ever meet. But he's never been in a real relationship because he feels he can't. He's not happy atall. Don't be like him Vladdy. Life's too short to not be happy."
Vlad, who was growing red at first, felt calm and encouraged by his crew members. It was silent for a moment then Sven yelled out from the back, "Marry the fucker, cum buckets and keep your dick soft every night unlike the rest of us with blue balls." The men busted out laughing as Charlie and Vlad turned around to kneel in their seats to look back, also laughing.
Benji, the Slytherin from Hogwarts called out, "Speak for yourself Sven. I got me a lady to keep me warm. You got Dale. And who would want to fuck that!?" Everyone laughed again as Sarah blushed, and no one noticed but Charlie.
Benji continued, "Seriously Vlad. You're gonna lose him. You're gonna lose him to someone less worthy of him if you don't get out of your own head and join with your mate. Fuck the parents. Why do they get a say in your life, in your happiness? Life's too short. Spend it happy."
Charlie turned to him. "Everyone is right. Life is too short. We just went through a war, a fucking pointless, shitty war where people died over power and discrimination. Pure bloods versus half bloods vs muggles, who gives a shit? More than half of us on this Flyer were out there fighting and we all bleed red. We almost died. Children did die. My brother...died. Do you know what I would give to have my brother back right now? He could come back saying he was a cross dressing elephant fucker and I would kiss him and encourage him to be the best elephant fucker there ever was."
Some laughed and Charlie smiled a bit. "Because I would rather have him back alive, no matter who he is or who he loves. He died never having experienced the love that you've had for years and you've taken for granted." Vlad nodded.
Sven said, "Not only just that Charlie, look at where we're at, what we do every day. What we do is serious work. We could all die on this mission today. Or you can die next week tending to a dragon. Before lovely Sarah came along and perfected the anti-fire serum we were literally getting burned alive at this job. Life is short, spend it with someone who makes you happy. Be who you are, and if he's the one, be who you are with him. And do it today. Because you don't know what tomorrow will bring."
Vlad nodded again. Mike, their American wizard from Brooklyn, New York who attended Ilvermorny said plainly, "Ay yo, Vlad, fuck your family, we're your family now. And fuck his family too. We'll be his brothers. Don't be afraid to bring him down here with us. We got your back, both of you."
"Here Here!" Jesse called out, and others echoed, "Here here!"
Vlad stood up in the aisle. "I really, really appreciate all of you. Thank you for... accepting me."
Mateo from Argentina who attended Castelbruxo said "aye dios mio what's to accept? We get it, everyone on this bus likes to get their cock sucked, bueno."
"Here here!" Silas the driver called out and everyone laughed and some shouted "here here!"
Then Sarah called out "Or their cunts licked!" and the men cackled again, some saying "ooooh!!!"
"Sarah!" Sven said shockingly. "And here I thought you were a lady!"
"You men! You think you're the only ones who love sex. Slytherin girls like to be slithered-in as well," Sarah said smugly.
The men went crazy with their laughter and hooting until Charlie said, "Alright alright, settle down." He gave Sarah a wide eyed look of amusement and she laughed out loud. People started moving into their side conversations as Charlie sat back down and Vlad sat with him.
"Thanks Charlie," he said sincerely.
Charlie shrugged, "No need for it, really, we're family here."
Vlad nodded. Then he asked, "So what about you? When are you getting married?"
Charlie laughed. "You are light years ahead of Chris and I. We've only just started seeing each other in February and who knows where this will go."
Sarah who was still listening chimed in again, "Uh-uh, it's been a lot longer than that. It's been since last summer you two have been inseparable."
"Maybe. Or maybe Dale talks to bloody much." He wanted to add, "in bed" but didn't want to blow her secret out of the water. She laughed and winked at him.
Charlie gave out assignments an hour before landing, putting them in their Squads to begin strategizing their role. When he didn't call out Benji for a Squad, Sven knew what it meant. He said, "No offense Benji, you know I love you like a son. But Charlie, there is a reason we don't put Hunters in leadership." "Yeah, and what's that?" challenged Charlie. Everyone got quiet again. "Because our instinct will always be to protect the people first, and we will kill a dragon if we need to," Benji responded. "Thanks Benj, I know the playbook," Charlie said sarcastically and Benji scowled at him. Charlie addressed Sven. "And so why wouldn't I want someone to advise me on what to do if shit starts to go sour? You think I want a bunch of Yes Men on my team, when I know my instinct is to keep a dragon alive at all costs? I need balance. Benji will give me that balance." He turned to Benji, "Are you really going to have a problem telling me I'm fucking up if I am?" "You mean when you fuck it up? Not at all," said Benji. Charlie's eyes narrowed at him but he didn't respond. Sven tried again, "But Charlie, that's not how it's done." Sarah said, "Yeah Dale's going to be upset by this." And just that quickly he was done with people challenging his decisions. "Well Dale isn't here, innit? I am. This is my team. He told me to pick my crew, not how to arrange it. So I'm doing it my way and fuck off anyone that has a problem with that! Fall in line!" He glared at Sarah and Sven who stayed quiet. Then he turned to Benji again. "Do you want leadership or not?" he barked at him. Benji nodded once. "Good. See you all on the ground." Charlie sat down. It was quiet until Tommy said, "Is it just me, or was that the sexiest thing you've ever seen? I mean. Not that I'm gay or anything. Not that there is anything wrong with being gay! It's good to be gay. It's gay to be gay. Not that I know what being gay feels like. I don't know maybe it's bad being gay? I was just saying, in a very non gay way, that that was very profoundly sexy." Vlad went red again and Charlie shook his head as people started to snicker and giggle. Jesse said, "Tommy, mate, why are you always such a fucking weirdo?"Silas pulled down about a quarter of a mile outside the village and everyone exited. Squad D, the Perimeter, knew to spread out and circle the village, then set up a five point radius surrounding it. This is where they would be the whole time. The rest followed Charlie, Sven, Benji, Felix and Sarah into the village where the elders greeted them. The five of them continued to the canopy they had set up for the initial meeting while the rest of the team when to greet the villagers and find out where they would be staying.
Their interpreter, Haziz, spoke English pretty well and led them to the seats in front of the seven elders of the community. Only the elders of the village had magical abilities and considered royalty by the others and their magical children revered. Through Haziz, they learned what happened, a boy named Malechi, who was the son of the Chief Elder Bocari, found a dragon egg almost two years ago in the mountains. He told no one and hatched it. He had been secretly raising it there, where it used the caves as its dwelling and hunted animals on its own, about three miles north of the village.
Another villager witnessed them about two weeks ago and came back and told his father. Chief Elder Bocari was furious and banned his son from going back there, but of course the boy didn't listen. The Chief wanted it dead but others saw no cause for that since it has brought harm to no one. So the elders took a vote and decided it was best to trap the dragon at the base of the mountain in an invisible enclosure and sent word to the Reserve.
Charlie asked, "How is its temperament?"
Elder Tapsir said, "It has been shooting flames day and night trying to get out. It has grown increasingly angry as the days go on."
Benji asked, "How long has it been in there?"
"A week today," Elder Omoro said.
"How is it eating?" Felix asked. Everyone hesitated. He barked at them, "You're not feeding it!!??"
Elder Bocari answered, "We send it one cow a day. But we cannot continue to do so, it is taking away resources from our village."
"How big is it?" Charlie asked
"10, maybe 15 feet?" Elder Tapsir said.
"OK," Charlie said. "One full grown cow a day isn't bad, it's not starving but I'm sure it's accustomed to more." He was thoughtful then said, "I want to speak to the boy."
"NO," Elder Bocari said curtly.
"If you want our help, I have to know everything there is about the dragon. And he knows this dragon inside and out. I need to talk to him. Now. Someone go get him." Charlie stood up and crossed his arms to show he meant business.
They argued among themselves, then Elder Omoro left. He returned with a tall, skinny boy no older than 16, who looked miserable. He had on a red Manchester United hat and jersey, and traditional African slacks. Charlie sat down and the boy sat in front of him cross legged on the floor and at first wouldn't look at Charlie. Haziz said it was the first time he had seen white skinned people before, and he was scared of them. Other than Mike who was African American, Khalid and Sahid who were Black African Brits, and Mateo who was Hispanic, the rest of them were pretty much white.
Charlie told him through the interpreter, "Malechi, I am not here to hurt you. And I'm not here to hurt your dragon. I just want to get him someplace safe. Do you want that for him too?"
Malechi started crying in front of them, his head down. "Malik is my best friend," he said in his language while Haziz spoke for him. "He's my best friend and he's the most gentlest thing ever and he wouldn't hurt a fly. He's kind and smart and playful and I love him. Why can't he stay with me?"
Charlie sat on the floor with him. "Because he doesn't belong here. You know that. He's getting big and he's going to grow bigger, double his size. You're going to have to feed him more and give him more exercise and you just can't do it here. He needs to be in an open space with dragons just like him. I didn't come to hurt him. I came to help him. Can you help me do that? Get him someplace safe where he will be well taken care of, and loved just as much as you love him?"
Malechi looked at Charlie for the first time and nodded. Charlie asked him, "Will you take me to Malik? I would like to meet him." Malechi smiled and nodded again. Charlie stood up. "We're going to see the dragon now." Elder Bocari scowled at him, but the others were agreeable.
Charlie and his leadership Squad set out with the Preservation Squad: Jesse, Kristoff, Gideon, Mateo, Romalus, Tommy, Lucas and Vlad; followed by Malechi and four of the Elders Bocari, Omoro, Tapsir and Tembi, the only female Elder. They walked northwest through the desert the three miles to the mountains. They heard the dragon before they saw him, roaring savagely.
"That's not good at all," Benji murmured.
The Horntail was jet black with a hint of grey in him in his scales, red on the underside of his wings, underbelly and tail. He was pacing and thrashing about trying to find a weak point. As he noticed the big group walking toward him, he started shooting flames at them. It stopped at the invisible wall and extinguished on their own, making the dragon even more upset. They stopped about 100 feet from the dragon and Malechi started yelling angrily at his father.
Haziz said, "He is telling them that they did the wrong thing by trapping him like that. That his beloved Malik is angry now. He has never seen him angry or aggressive."
"He's right, that dragon has `kill' written all over its face," Benji said. He looked at Charlie knowingly.
Suddenly Malechi broke from the group and ran straight for the dragon. Some called out "No" but most just watched in horror as he ran top speed saying "Malik, Malik doa ov eme! Doa ov eme!" The dragon surprised everyone but Charlie as it stopped thrashing completely, instead lowered its head at the sight of his father and friend, as if to prepare for a petting. Unfortunately Malechi ran face first into the barrier and fell backwards.
The dragon flared its nostrils again in anger but Malechi got up quickly, started talking and cooing to it, rubbing on the barrier like he was rubbing the dragon. Malik responded by rubbing against the see through wall right were Malechi's hands were. As the boy knelt down and sat on its hindlegs, the dragon likewise laid its head down. He started singing to it and the dragon was soothed.
As everyone continued to watch in amazement, Tommy said, "Make sure we recruit that one in two years, yeah?"
Vlad started walking toward them slowly. Charlie looked at him sharply. "What the blood hell are you doing?"
Vlad did not look back. "It's ok. I know what to do."
He continued to walk slowly until he was right behind Malechi. The dragon tensed again and looked at Vlad but Vlad kept full eye contact with him and knelt down slowly next to Malechi. He motioned to the boy to introduce him.
He pointed at himself and said, "Vladimir. Vladimir." Malechi understood.
He spoke to Malik in his language and took Vlad's hand to show they were friends. Then Malechi took his hand and placed it on the barrier with his. As Malechi said some words, Vlad repeated them. When Malechi cooed, Vlad cooed as well. And when Malechi started singing, Vlad listened for a few lines to make sure he got it, then started singing too. And the dragon responded favorably to it all.
"Smart fucking lad," Felix said to himself, but Charlie nodded anyway.
He took a few steps and joined them, kneeling on the floor and singing Malechi's song. Felix and Sarah followed together. Jesse, Lucas and Tommy came last, and they were all sitting around the dragon and singing to it. Malik started loving all the attention and grunted and moved his tail around. He tried to lick the wall a couple of times making them all laugh.
Benji looked at his Hunters and said, "Take one step toward that dragon and I'm drowning you in the lake when we get back." So Romulus, Kristoff and Gideon hung back with Mateo and watched.
Only Malechi and Vlad used the native tongue, the rest spoke to it in English, getting him used to the sound and words. Chief Elder Bocari, who wanted the dragon dead, did not like this and walked over briskly, Haziz followed and interpreted. He started yelling that the dragon would kill them all and he would show them how ferocious his temper was. He put his hands together and started rubbing them together until orange sparks formed. He created a ball of fire and sent it hurling toward the dragon right over their heads.
"What the fuck!" yelled Charlie as he ducked.
The fire penetrated the barrier and struck Malik in the back. The dragon roared and rose up, breathing fire along the way. Charlie and all the rest of the crew ran back while Sven, Mateo and the Hunters ran forward. Vlad had to pry a hysterical Malechi with him, as the dragon would not respond to his voice either. The Hunters covered Charlie and the rest and they all walked back over to the Elders.
Charlie was pissed. He took out his wand and pointed it at Elder Bocari, crying "Flipendo Maxima!" The Elder flipped high in the air and hurdling backwards until he landed on his back 20 feet from where they stood. The three other elders started conjuring magic with their hands and did a defensive stance while the wizards with the exception of Vlad, Sarah and Felix, drew their wands and stood beside Charlie defensively as well. No one moved while the dragon roared behind them. Elder Bocari slowly walked over to them and glared at Charlie.
Charlie said coldly, "If you ever put my crew in danger again, I will release that dragon myself and watch as he burns your entire village to the fucking ground." He turned to Haziz and said, "Now interpret that shit." He walked around the Elders back toward the village and the Reservers followed him, along with Malechi.
At dinner he motioned for the Leadership team to meet in his temporary dwelling. He wanted to hear their pros and cons for bringing the dragon back to the Reserve. Tommy upon hearing this, followed Charlie back to his hut and refused to leave when they met and Charlie let him stay, too tired to argue. Tommy spoke first. "We can do it. We can bring him back. You saw how he responded to Vlad, and when it was just us and the boy. He was agreeable. We can tame him." Sven said, "Yes, but unless you are planning on taking the boy with us, I don't see him staying tame. He only really understands the boy's tongue." Felix agreed with Tommy. "Vlad can do it. He was already mimicking Malechi and it was working. We just need to learn some key phrases-" Benji cut him off. "Are you all mad!? That beast could kill us all. He was raised in the wild and belongs out there in the wild, not with our tame dragons." "But our dragons came to us wild," said Tommy. "Except maybe Robbie, and maybe Betta. With the right team, he could be agreeable." "And who would that be?" Sven asked. "Charlie maybe but he has his hands full with Betta. Dale with Robbie? Maybe Vlad and only because he was the smart one to get a warm hand off by his owner." "Vlad can do it," Felix said again. He turned to Charlie. "You know he can." Charlie turned to Tommy. "Can you bring Vlad in here please? I want to hear from him too." Tommy left abruptly as Sven continued. "Bringing him back could go either way." Benji said, "Oh you mean either way like, maybe he'll be ok or maybe he'll reign down hellfire?" Benji, Sven and Felix continued to weigh out the pros and cons as Tommy and Vlad came back. Tommy took his place next to Charlie again as Vlad sat by the door and listened. Sarah had begun to give her input now, "Well we can't just leave him with those cruel elders. Especially that Chief one. He wants him dead badly and they will kill him." "Better they kill him than us. Or maybe it should be us," Benji said. "Oy!" Felix yelled at him. "We're not in the business of killing dragons." Tommy muttered, "And this is why we don't put Hunters in Leadership,'' making Charlie really want to smack him. Benji said to Felix, "Yeah when it's just you and Malik the Murderer in your face ready to breath fire on you, you'll be singing a different tune then." Felix and Benji started yelling at each other and Charlie knew he had to calm it down. "Alright, alright!" He sighed. "We aren't killing him, for sure, and we aren't leaving him to be killed. But we aren't sure if we can tame him yet. What we need is more time." "There's another solution," Vlad said quietly from his corner. They all turned to look at him. "We could let him go." No one spoke, until Charlie said, "Let him go where?" Vlad shrugged. "Wherever he wants to go. Although he was raised in the mountains, so he will probably stay up there. Either way, we set him free. We end the barrier and let him fly off." Charlie shook his head, "We can't do that." "Why not?" Asked Vlad. Charlie opened his mouth to respond but Benji answered, "Because, you portlock's arse, what if he harms another person or a village? It would be blood on our hands." "But I don't think he would," Vlad said. "He's only mad now because of being provoked. I believe Malechi when he says he wouldn't hurt a fly. He raised him to be a gentle giant." Charlie said, "Vlad, we'd be taking a huge risk on what we think not what-" Benji interrupted him, "You don't know much about Horntails do you? They are naturally aggressive, with short tempers and long memories. There is a strong possibility that he will want revenge on the villagers for trapping him all week." Not necessarily," Sven said, "Not if Malechi is still here. He sees him like a parent and a friend, and he would never harm the boy, nor let anyone else harm him. He showed that today." "And if he doesn't fly off into the sunset to live his happily ever after, but instead turns around and head's for the village?" Benji asked testily. "Then we know that Malechi was wrong, and he is too wild, and we take him down, gently." Charlie said with finality. No one spoke again, as his words sunk in. He turned to the Healers. "Sarah, Felix, did you bring Nightshade?" "We did," Sarah said. "We need to get it on his underbelly to work, the red skin is the softest," said Felix, "But Charlie-" Tommy cut him off, jumped up and yelled, "Are we really talking about this!? Killing a dragon!? This is not what I signed up for!" "What a naive little shit you are," Benji said nastily. Charlie yelled at him, "Benji!" But Tommy was upset and for the first time in his life stood up to Benji and yelled, "Fuck off Benji the Broken! You shouldn't even be in here!" Charlie tried to intervene. "Tommy, calm down..." "No you fuck off too, Charlie!" Tommy yelled again, surprising everyone. "Fuck off for even suggesting it. What...what are you saying!? We aren't even going to try?" he cried. Charlie stood up and rounded on him. "We are going to try, Tommy. That's what we are here to do, but it doesn't mean we don't prepare ourselves for bad outcomes too. If you ever want to lead, you are going to have to understand that. Be all heart, but use your logical brain too." He touched his shoulder and Tommy nodded. Charlie turned to the rest of them. "Tomorrow Vlad will go back with Malechi since they have already formed a connection. Vlad, it will be your job to see if he is tamable, can follow directions, take cues, especially from someone other than Malechi. I don't want a crowd there again, so just the two of them." Sven interjected, "Charlie he can't do that by himself, you'll have to go with him." Charlie disagreed, Vlad seemed to be able to handle himself just fine around dragons. He reminded him of himself at that age. But he relented. "Fine, the three of us will go...no, four, Felix I want you to come too. Just in case we need a healer he can trust. The rest of you come later and will stay all the way back, no less than half a mile. Keep watch and if I need you I will send up red sparks. We'll do it for two days. If by three we've made good progress, we smoke him, load him up and take him back." "And if it all goes to shit?" Benji asked sourly. "Then we let him go and pray he doesn't attack another village or person." Charlie said. Benji shook his head but kept quiet. "He won't," Vlad said. "I heard you Benji. His nature might be aggressive, but his personality isn't. I can feel it. He's a good boy." Sven said, "Let's hope you are right." "So we aren't going to use force then?" Tommy asked hopefully. "Only if it's completely necessary, like if he ever tries to harm the village." "Sounds like a good plan Charlie," Sven said. "Now let's all get some sleep. If it all works out we'll be home by the weekend." They all walked out together. Vlad said, "Thanks Charlie. You're doing great by the way." He smiled at him and Charlie smiled back before he headed to his hut with the others. Charlie looked up at the clear night sky and all the stars, missing his best friend and lover. He turned to walk toward the desert to send a message to Chris.Chris, who had mercilessly jerked himself to sleep on Charlie's couch, woke with a start. The living room was supposed to be pitch black but there was an eerily silvery bluish glow next to him. He turned and jumped with an "AAH!" and scrambled to the far side of the couch. A translucent miniature dragon was sitting on the Zouzu rug, like it was waiting for him to wake up. Chris watched it as it watched Chris. "Ch...Charlie?" Chris stuttered.
The dragon started to speak. "Hey Chris. Just wanted to check in."
It was definitely Charlie's voice and it made Chris's heart beat faster. He moved closer as it continued.
"We arrived and the mission is underway. If all goes well I could be back in Albania by Saturday. Of course I would have to stay on grounds a few days more, make sure the dragon is well adjusted, but then I'll have a few days off so...[long pause, so long that Chris thought for a second the message ended or Charlie messed up somehow. Then he began to speak again.] I miss you. A lot. This is the first time we have been away from each other like this, literally hundreds of miles apart, days without touching each other and I hate it. I know you hate it too. [Chris whispered, "I do."]
"I hope you are staying at my place while I am away. Eat breakfast at The Atrium on my tab after work today. Although... something tells me you called out of work again and you're laying in my bed watching this. [Chris laughed] Go to work tomorrow. Sitting around smelling my clothes is not going to bring me back any faster, mate. [Chris laughed again.] I'm going to go. I...I miss you. A lot."
Then the dragon lifted its wings and flew through a solid wall, leaving Chris in the dark smiling and feeling loved.
The next day Malechi, Vlad, Charlie, Felix and Haziz left at dawn, grabbing food and snacks to carry them through the day, and went to visit Malik. The interpreter translated Malechi's words to the dragon for them, so they could learn key phrases and words. They all took turns talking to and playing with the dragon, which again seemed to like the positive attention. Vlad asked Malechi about the things they did together and they switched clothes so that Vlad had on his jersey and hat, and smelled like him. Felix quizzed Malechi as well on his favorite foods, sleep schedule, any particular smells, food, or items he liked, if he noticed any illnesses he's had, and he wrote it all down. They were able to play games with the dragon and by midday they knew what Malechi saw in him and kept trying to tell them: He really was a gentle giant. Their favorite game was when Malechi would say "teswo eme" which basically meant "copy me" and he would do things like pretend to faint and fall backwards, then Malik would pretend to faint and do the same. If Malechi flapped his arms, the dragon would flap his wings and fly as high as he could go, then back down. And Malik told them when he would get upset or frustrated, he would say "Voeli voeli ibi ubo" which meant "hush hush baby boy" or "Doa ov eme ibi" which meant "listen to me baby." Vlad and Charlie both learned to say it with a perfect accent, and they would take turns getting him to respond to them as well. They stayed there the full day, and as the sun was setting, Malechi decided to sleep under the stars near his beloved dragon, and Vlad joined him to do the same. Charlie sent Chris another Patronus message that night, "Everything is going well so keep your fingers crossed. Nights are terrible without you, you know. We really do sleep together every day don't we? I don't think I realized that until now. I'm resisting the urge to jerk off thinking of you, unlike you I am sure of it. [Chris laughed out loud.] Miss you Chris. A lot. I will be home soon." Early Friday morning as Charlie, Felix and Haziz set out again, they were stopped by Chief Elder Bocari who told them the Elders met again late last night and voted again. They decided to end the dragon's life for the safety of the village. Felix and Charlie were horrified. Charlie started yelling at him, "You called us! You gave us a job to do, let us do our jobs and take him with us safely. We need more time!" But Elder Bocari was adamant. Felix was fuming. He looked at Charlie and then aparated on the spot. Charlie knew he went to Vlad and Malechi, so Charlie grabbed Haziz's arm and apparated with him as well. Vlad was startled by the sudden pops around him as Charlie and Felix appeared. "What's going on?" "They are coming! They are coming to kill him!" Felix said angrily. Malechi understood and started talking fast in his language and crying. Charlie lifted his wand and said, "Vermillious!" Red sparks started spitting from his wand along with Vlad's and Felix's. Almost immediately the Preservation team began apparating around him, along with Sven, Sarah and Benji. When they were all there Charlie explained the Elders decision, everyone matched his initial look of horror, even Benji was upset by the decision. Malechi started talking to them with intensity, gesturing upwards. Haziz said, "He says, let him go, let him go to the skies." Charlie turned to Vlad who looked guilty. "I'm sorry Charlie, I told him Plan B to keep Malik safe, that we would open the barrier and let him fly back up to the highest mountains. We gotta do it Charlie, we gotta let him go now!" Charlie turned to his Leadership team. "We'll take a vote." Benji yelled, "Charlie, gotdamnit!" Charlie yelled back, "Don't start your shit Benji! I heard everything you said the first night loud and clear. But I've been here with this dragon all day and he is not what you think he is. Now I need us all to consider the safety and health of the dragon, but also the risk to the villagers. So we either let him go or we try now to hold the Elders back until we can get enough Sleeping Beauty in him to put him to sleep, subdue him and take him back with us, which is also a risk. But either way we aren't letting them put Malik down without good cause. So we vote. Let him go, or take him. Choose. Now." Sven spoke first, "We don't have enough time. Let him go." Sarah said, "I heard from Felix the progress that you're making. He's tamable. We take him." Felix sighed. "Yes, but is it enough?" He thought for a moment. "I think we...we should let him go..NO keep him, keep him!" Benji growled. "Let him go." Charlie stupidly did not think the vote would come down to him. He looked at Vlad, and he knew what Vlad would say, but he couldn't risk it. Vlad was more sure about Malik's ability to adapt to life on the Reserve than he was. Younger adventurous Charlie would have said to keep him, but the older wiser Charlie instead said, "He'll be fine out there in the mountains. We'll let him go." He turned to everyone. "We're going to end the barrier and let him go. Spread out and form a circle around the dragon." The two teams did as they were instructed and pointed their wands out toward the barrier. Malik whined unsure of what was going to happen and Malechi cooed and soothed him. Charlie counted them down from three and they said in one voice, "Finite Incantatem!" Blue light came from their wands and stretched across the barrier, then rained down to the ground in glitters. Malechi ran straight for Malik and touched his nose, grabbed his ears playfully and hugged his neck. They watched as the two friends were reunited, as Malechi continued to drag his hand across the dragon's mouth, down to the back of his ears and rubbed them and Malik responded with appreciative grunts and sounds. Then the dragon lowered its head all the way to the ground and Malechi climbed onto the back of his neck. He cried, "woerci!" and the dragon lifted its head, stretched it's wings and rose upward. They flew in circles for a bit, then flew off towards the top of the mountains. Everyone was smiling, and Felix and Vlad hugging excitedly. "Seriously, somebody recruit this kid," Tommy said happily. Even Benji looked less sourly, and said, "Alright Charlie. I hope you know what you're doing." ~~~ They walked back to the village and waited, wondering and debating if Malechi was ever going to come back or if he was going to live out the rest of his days with his beloved dragon. Elder Bocari scowled at them but Tapsir and Omoro came over and thanked them. "Chief Elder is the most powerful of us all,'' they said. "he threatened our families and our livelihood if we did not vote with him. This is for the best, everyone is happier this way." Liam spotted them coming from the Southwest side of the village first and sent his hummingbird Patronus to them to say, "They are coming." The two Squads ended up apparating to where he was. Malechi led the dragon to drop him off right outside of the village. Some villagers came out to watch in awe, but everyone stood back cautiously. Vlad ran right up to them and mimicked Malechi's petting behind his ears and dragging his hands across his face. The dragon stuck out his tongue and licked Vlad's whole arm which made the Reservers laugh. Vlad told Malechi, "He has to go. Woerci." He motioned for him to go to the skies again, pointing at the mountains on the northwest side where they had just come from. Malechi told him to go and the dragon began to take flight. As everyone watched the boy and his dragon, Charlie saw the ball of light out of his peripheral vision and was powerless to stop it. Elder Bocari hurled another fireball toward Malik in the sky and it struck him on his side. The dragon roared a terrible roar and started falling sideways until he caught his balance. Charlie yelled, FUCK!" They all watched in horror as the dragon kept flying around and around as if it was trying to decide what to do as Malechi ran to his father and started yelling at him. "Keep going, keep going..." Benji kept muttering. Then Chief Bocari raised his hand high and it turned red and he lowered it quickly across his son's face. Malechi let out a yell and fell to the ground. Benji moved quickly and grabbed the Chief by his collar lifting him off his feet. Romalus, Gideon and Kristoff had to grab his arms to keep him from snapping his neck. No one except Charlie noticed that the dragon had seen it all from above, heard Malechi's cry and saw him on the ground, until Malik turned around and started coming toward them. Charlie screamed, "EVERYONE GET BACK!!" He said to Liam, "Ash Burner Barrier, NOW!!" He started pushing his team and the villagers back. Liam sent up white streak high in the sky to the middle of the village. From four other parts of the perimeter surrounding the village white streaks came up and joined with his, then spread a white line from Liam's feet to Jamie's to Ollie's to Dylan's to Mike's and back to Liam's feet. Charlie yelled, "Behind the white line, everyone!" Malik must have been watching to see where Chief Bocari went because he flew to the other side of the village and aimed for him. As the Chief went into his dwelling, Malik opened his mouth and blew red and orange flames directly to the top of the hut. As the fire rained down the villagers screamed, but it turned to ash as it went through the barrier and rained down on the people. Malechi came over waving his hands furiously, green sparks emulating from it. Charlie made out the words, "Doa ov eme ibi, woerci, woerci!" and some other words. He was telling the dragon to go. Finally the dragon got the hint, roared and flew upwards disappearing into the skies. "This is bad Charlie, this is really fucking bad!" yelled Benji. "That dragon is going to come back and kill us all!" "You don't know that," Tommy said. He yelled at Tommy, "Oh really? Did your degree in dragonology and 15 years experience working with them give you an informed decision on the attributes of a Hungarian Horntail? No? Then SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He rounded on Charlie. "You know I'm right. Those sons of bitches are vengeful. So either we go after it and hunt it down or we wait for it to come to us, because it will come back." Charlie indeed knew Benji was right. He sighed. "We wait for it to come back. Give it three days. If he doesn't come back in three days most likely he has moved on." "And.. And when he comes back, Charlie?...what are you saying?" Tommy asked fearfully. Charlie did not respond, instead looked around. "Where's Vlad?" They all looked toward the banging and saw Vlad punching and kicking the door of the hut, screaming, "Come out here you motherfucker! You kneazle shit bastard! You ruined it, you ruined everything!" The twins Khalid and Sahid had to lift him up and pull him away, with him screaming the whole time. He shook them off and started running away, out of the village and into the desert. Charlie rubbed his temples, he will deal with Vlad later. For now he had to strategize again and give out assignments. "Corral, I need you to scope out the sand dunes on the northeastern side of the village, and create a cover cave, so that if they need to evacuate the village, they have someplace safe to go. Make sure there is enough food, water and supplies for at least 300 people. "Preservers, I need you to patrol the outskirts of the village, eyes to the skies at all times. "Perimeter is to keep the barrier up for the next 24 hours. Preservers will give you breaks and cover. Work out who is covering who, there are 12 of you until Vlad gets back. "Sarah and Felix, prepare the Sleeping Beauty dragon powder and Nightshade. If we are able to salvage the situation, we will. But our number one goal is to protect human life. "Sven, go with the Corral, Benji, patrol with the rest. One way or another, this ends and ends soon." Before anyone else could talk, he turned on his heels and left them standing there. Charlie went to his hut and shut the door, sat on the bed and put his hands on his head, trying to figure out how he fucked up so bad and how to get out of it. By the setting sun, the entire village was on edge, restless and nervous. The Ash Burner Barrier created a glow all over. After dinner, the village women invited everyone into the circle in the middle and did a dance and tribute to their ancestors, praying that their village and the people were spared. They went around to each Reserver and put a circle on their heads made from the dirt in their village, which they say gives them their strength and power. It was deeply moving and spiritual, and made Charlie think of Chris and his Catholic faith that he sort of practices but very much believes in. It was only during his trip with George around the world that he realized how many other wizarding cultures equated their magic coming from a Divine power or a sole Creator. And even George gravitated toward the spirituality practices they learned in Uganda. Charlie had been taught to revere magic but never to think about the source of it all. He too began to see magic as part of the spiritual world and had a deeper gratitude for his ability and the Source behind it. Whether he called it God or not, was still up in the air. He glanced over at Malechi who had tears streaming down his face. His father was nowhere to be found, probably still hiding in his hut. He thought if he was closer, he would go hug him. Then decided to follow his instinct. He got up from his bench and came over to him, stood him up and gave him a hug. The boy burst into tears in his arms, and he held him for as long as he needed to, while the women danced around them. Charlie went over to the far side of the village again a few hours later, and sent another Patronus message to Chris: "Well. Things certainly took a shitty turn today. Looks like I'll be here another three days at least. I don't know anymore...the villagers did a prayer for us to their ancestors for the situation to end in peace. I just don't know what I'm doing. I'm just going on instinct hoping I'm getting it right. So if you got that rosary near you, send up a Hail Mary for us, yeah mate? But I think you're working today and your beads are home. And you've probably haven't been to your house in a few days, which makes me feel... [long pause. Chris understood. "Me too," he said.] "What I wouldn't give right now to be laying next to you, touching you. I'm going to stop talking now before I go down that path. Just know that I'm thinking of you every spare moment that I have, just as much and as hard as you are thinking of me. Maybe more." Charlie sent his Patronus up as Vlad came out the desert up the hill. Charlie sat down and waited for him. Vlad sat down next to him and was quiet for a long moment. Then he said, "I don't think I was ready for this, Charlie. I'm so grateful that you asked me not only to be a part of your team, but to have an input with your leadership squad. But, I am way too emotional for this. I'm too attached to Malik now. I can't be a part of any harming him, and I know that's the next logical step. I know he's dangerous right now, but I know in my heart he's not a dangerous animal. I just don't know how to separate the two thoughts." He sighed. Charlie said, "I chose you, because you are strong, and smart, you have good instincts and a big heart. I was just like you starting out, all instinct and heart. In some ways I still am. And I agree with you for what it's worth. I see what you see in Malik. But we also have to consider the damage he can do in the state he is in. Being a master of dragons also means understanding that we have to protect them from themselves as well. A vengeful dragon is not a happy, healthy, well adjusted one. So if you really care for him, we have to do what's best for him. "And just so you know, we prepared Nightshade and Sleeping Beauty. I'm not heartless. If we can keep him alive and get him out of here we will. I will look for any opportunity to do so, and you should too. But if it's too dangerous, if he is too dangerous to himself or anyone here, we will have to put him down, gently. Are you ok with that plan?" Vlad nodded. "I want to be like you when I grow up, Charlie." Charlie laughed. "And I want what you have Vlad, a love of a lifetime. So we both have lots to learn from each other don't we?" Vlad grinned back widely. ~~~ The night passed quietly and without incident. As the day moved on, the villagers and Charlie's team were less tense and everyone moved about normally. Charlie allowed the barrier to come down but said to them to stay alert, eyes on the skies at all times, day and night. He too fell in step to patrol the outskirts of the village with his team. As night fell again and the village slept peacefully while the moon sat high in the clouds, Charlie went to his spot to send another message to Chris. As he was finishing up Vlad came from behind him. "How do you do that?" he asked. "The Patronus?" asked Charlie. "Yeah. I know what it is, but it's not something we learn at Durmstrang. Definitely didn't know you could send messages with it." "Well if you've never done it before, you need to start with the basics, casting an incorporeal Patronus." "What's that?" Vlad asked. Charlie explained the difference between incorporeal and corporeal Patronuses, the former being without shape and the latter taking on a shape of an animal that represents the spirit of who he is inside. He then showed him the movements and how to conjure one. "Think of your happiest memory. A single moment in time that has brought you immense and internal joy like none other. Then wave your wand in a circle counterclockwise saying Expecto Patronum until a silvery mist begins to form. Have confidence in yourself. There is no danger right now so just have fun with it." After about an hour of practicing, Vlad was able to produce a silvery mist. Charlie was excited for him. "Excellent! What were you thinking of that last time?"Vlad just looked at him and smiled. Charlie laughed. "Ok fair enough. Now whatever it was, concentrate on it just a little more intently. A Patronus is an emotional charm, not an intellectual or skillful charm. You can learn how to do it, but that doesn't mean you'll ever really be able to do it. That's what people don't get. You have to feel it from deep within and allow yourself to let go and let it come out through your wand. No one knows what shape their Patronus becomes until they do it, because it's in the deepest parts of you. Let it come out of you." He stood back again. Vlad nodded. He closed his eyes and meditated, then smiled to himself. He opened them, pointed his wand at nothing and said boldly, "Expecto Patronum!" A stronger ball of silver came from his wand and it began to take shape but not enough to form something. Vlad yelled excitedly, `AHA!!!" Charlie cheered and clapped for him. Vlad followed the light as it floated upwards feeling proud of himself while Charlie was still celebrating, and watched in horror as a black figure flew in and out of the clouds in their direction. "Cha..Cha...Charlie CHARLIE! He's back!!" Vlad stuttered, then yelled. Charlie froze and looked in the same direction. They looked at each other and took off running back to the village forgetting they could aparate, shouting for the Ash Burner Barrier to go back up and firing red sparks. But Malik was faster, and he flew over the village with fire already on his tongue, back to the spot he left at the Chief Elder's hut, and shot a fireball of flames directly on it. At the same time every single Reserver that was nearby shouted "Stupefy!" to stun the dragon, but the damage was already done. The hut burst into flames and the dragon flew higher and disappeared in the clouds again. Malechi came running from a nearby hut. He had refused to sleep in the hut with his father after what he had done, so only his father was in there. "Apa! Apa!" he cried over and over again. Vlad had to hold him back from running inside the burning dwelling. "Charlie," Benji said. "It's not enough. We need something stronger." Charlie turned to Khalid, "Corral, get the villagers out of here now. Everyone else, who knows Bombarda? Now is the time to step up." Almost all of the men with Sarah and Charlie lined up. Charlie said, "Eyes on the skies. He's coming back. And when he does, we will do it simultaneously. Aim for his right wing on my go." They stood in a semi circle and waited, wands poised and no one spoke. They all saw the shadow of the dragon get lower and lower, darting in and out the clouds. "Ready...Steady..." Malik flew lower and lower, then dived towards them. "NOW!" Charlie cried. They cried in unison, "BOMBARDA!" 14 orange beams collided midair forming one large circle of orange light, hitting Malik directly in his uppermost part of the underside of his right wing. The dragon howled in pain, and flew off course towards the right. He landed about half a mile from the village. First he roared over and over again, then he began whimpering. The men and Sarah got closer, but not too close. "Line up again. Be ready for anything," Charlie commanded. They watched him, wands poised again, as he whimpered and tried to lick his own wound. After a couple of minutes Tommy said, "Now what do we do?" Charlie honestly had no idea, but Malechi saved him from answering. He walked up to Charlie with a large blanket in his hand. He motioned toward the dragon. "Eme vomo. Me, go," he said to Charlie. Then he walked on toward his friend and pet. They watched as he petted and cooed at the dragon first, sang a few lines of his song, then spread his blanket down. He created a greenish blue fire with his hands and put it next to them. The dragon laid his head on the blanket and Malechi laid down next to his head. After a couple more minutes, Vlad broke the line and started walking toward them. Charlie said, "Vlad. No." "He's not going to hurt me Charlie," Vlad said, trying to reason with him. "You really can't be that stupid," Benji said roughly. "FUCK THE FUCK OFF BENJI!" Vlad screamed at him. "I'm not Tommy, I will fucking end you." "Hey!" Tommy said offended as Benji broke the line with his fists balled up ready to raise his wand. Charlie held his hand out on Benji's chest and shook his head once, then turned back to Vlad. "Benji is right, Vlad. Be smart. Be safe. You cannot go over there. You don't know what he's going to do if you approach him." "Well there is only one way to find out," Vlad said and turned to walk again. Charlie was losing his patience with the kid. Is this how Dale felt about him when he was young and reckless? "Vladimir! You are now disobeying a direct order! If you leave this line, there will be consequences!" Everyone was silent as Vlad froze in the spot and was thoughtful. He turned around to Charlie and said, "Charlie, I need you to know that I respect your authority and your leadership. And I couldn't ask for a better friend or mentor at this point in my life. I am so grateful to you. But I have to do this, for me. And if you really meant what you said to me two nights ago, you know why." Vlad turned around and walked toward Malik and Malechi. "What a dumb fuck," Benji murmured. Charlie watched Vlad make it about 3/4ths of the way there and then started following. "Charlie!" Benji called out incredulously. "I can't let him go by himself, Benj. He's my responsibility, as are all of you. If something happens to me, you're in charge, and you know what to do." He looked at him knowingly and Benji nodded. He turned to keep walking but Sarah called "Wait!" She ran up to him and took off her satchel. "Sleeping Beauty is in there. And here is the Nightshade." She handed him a needle the size of his shoe. "Either way, he's going to sleep tonight." Charlie nodded. He walked to the dragon to find Malechi and Vlad sitting on the blanket on either side of him, caressing his chin and singing softly to him. Vlad stopped and said, "He's really hurt, Charlie, he's in a lot of pain. Can't we do something please?" Malik looked up at Charlie with sad eyes and whined. Charlie reached down and petted his wet nose and face. He whispered, "I got you, boy. You're going to be safe with me, I promise." Charlie set the bag of Sleeping Beauty down between the two young men. "Put him to sleep, Vlad." Vlad looked at Charlie and mouthed "Thank you" then dug in the bag and pulled out a handful of yellow powder and blew it softly in his nose. "Sleep" said Vlad. He motioned for Malechi to do the same. "Lepese,'' said Malechi. "Sleep. Lepese." Together, they blew handfuls of dragon powder into his nostrils and mouth. Halfway through the bag, Malik closed his eyes but they did not stop until he was snoring deeply. Felix had walked over to inspect his wing. He ran back and got Sarah who returned with Essence of Murtlap and some herbs to soothe his burning skin. Together they worked to ensure his wound was treated and would be healed in a few hours. The other members of the team slowly came around. Charlie said to them simply, "We're taking him." Sven, Benji and Tommy casted Incancerous to bind the dragon's legs and other wing to his body, giving space for his burned wing to heal. Charlie looked at his watch, it was almost 3am. He turned to his team. If you are all in agreement, let's not stay another night. Let's get him on the Flyer and back to the Reserve by sunlight. That way when he wakes up 12 hours later, It will be on our turf, with no ability to breath fire. I like those odds a shit ton better than what we've been dealing with." Liam said, "Here here!" And Benji confirmed, "Let's get the fuck out of here." "You have 20 minutes, say your goodbyes," Charlie said. He sent green sparks up in the air in moments the Flyer came over and landed near the dragon. Silas stepped out and exclaimed, "Woo wee! I saw all that drama from way over there. Everyone ok?" "Yea we are," Romalus said. "Don't think the village will be the same without their chief elder." They all glanced back at the hut that was still quietly burning. ~~~ Haziz told him them that Omoro will take over as Chief Elder now that Bocari is gone. Malechi took Vlad's arm and led him to the nearby hut he was staying at, with Omoro's family. He gave Vlad his hat, three of his unwashed african print tops and told him to take the blanket that Malik's head was still on. Vlad told him, "We will take care of him, I promise. Come visit him in Albania. AL-Bain-Ee-Ya." Malechi repeated, "Ah-Baaan-eee-yah!" They hugged. By the time they got back, the crew had gotten Malik hoisted to the top of the Flyer and tied down, still in a deep stupor. Elder Tembi and other women from the village came by with food for their journey and seeds from the flowers that grew in their region, especially near the mountain. "So he always remembers his home," Haziz translated for them. And soon they were back on the Flyer, heading home. Charlie again took his seat in the front and everyone was falling asleep from exhaustion. Charlie's mind once again wandered to his happy place – Chris- when he felt someone slid into the seat next to him. Without opening his eyes he said, "What do you want Vlad?" "I just want to say how sorry I am for disobeying your order and I really appreciate you and respect your leadership on this mission. We could not have done this without your cool head and logical thinking. And all things considered, I think it went really well." Charlie laughed. "Yeah? Let's see after I give my report to Dale." "I also wanted to tell you that as soon as we get back, I'm flying to Romania to tell my parents, then flying to Moldova to ask Alexi to marry me." Charlie opened his eyes and looked at him with a smile. "That is an amazing plan, congratulations. However, the mission is not over. I need at least six to eight people to stay on the Reserve another three days at least, to ensure the dragon is adjusting to his new life. And since you are his new best friend, sorry but you have to be there to tame him so your trip will have to wait." "Ok, yeah sure I can do tha-waaaait!" Vlad said excitedly. "Does that mean I will be his Lead Tamer!?" Charlie smiled again. "Yes. You get to pick your second in command Tamer and a couple of Fixers, a minimum of four people, to assign to Malik. I suggest you pull from this group that came with us, people Malik is familiar with. I would pull the Dungers, all four if you can, or maybe three Fixers and one Dunger, then I can pull the other dungers into Fixer roles. They did great and it's nice to be rewarded with a promotion after a mission. Liam did extremely well these last two days. But, it's up to you who you choose." "Wow. And here I thought you were really going to punish me for insubordination." "Oh yes I bloody well am," Charlie said. "There will be no Dungers assigned to Malik for the first 60 days. You will be on dung duty, Shithead." He leaned back and closed his eyes. "WHAT!??" Vlad hollered, and a couple of people shh'ed him. "You heard me," Charlie said, arms folded and eyes still closed. "You will be cleaning up Malik's shit for two months, by yourself." "Charlie. Charlie you can't do that. My team will never respect me," Vlad pleaded. "Charlie-" "That sounds like a personal problem," Charlie cut him off. "Fuck," Vlad muttered. He went back to his seat next to Mateo to complain to his friend. Charlie smiled. His mind wandered back to his lover waiting for him back in his bed. ~~~~~~~~~~ Please donate to Nifty, whatever you can, to help them continue to distribute stories for you! http://donate.nifty.org/ Kumba Kabba Kabba118@hotmail.com