Fic: Matters of Dragons and Their Humans - Chapter 3 - Sharing a World AU - Lyle/Ryan
Title: Matters of Dragons and Their Humans
Characters: Lyle (OC), Ryan
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Lyle belongs to fredbassett and she is just her usual awesome self for letting me play with him, Ryan belongs to Impossible Pictures.
Summary: Lyle has started his vigil and he has a visitor.
A/N 1: This is a big jump into the AU world. There are still anomalies, there's still a team and there is even an ARC. There has also been a slight twist in evolution somewhere along the line and one more sentient species shares the Earth with humans, dragons.
A/N 2: Finally we got to the main storyline all the prequels have been building up to so far. This takes place around what would have been season 2 of the series, in 2008.
A/N 3: For a full list of all Sharing a World AU stories please have a look here. Thanks to fredbassett as always for the great beta, all remaining mistakes are mine.
Chapter 3
The clearing where the anomaly had first appeared was now deserted. All remains of the personnel involved with the project had been completely removed from the area. The only marks left behind were the broken branches of a small tree at the edge of the clearing where Gostegion had scratched herself that morning, now a month ago.
Lyle lay back against the wide tree trunk with a tired sigh. He’d been released from the Covert’s infirmary nearly three weeks ago and Ryan had barely managed to keep him resting and off his injury for another week before the guard duty at the anomaly site had been revoked. As soon as he could, Lyle had parked his arse at the anomaly site and had not moved since.
Ryan had brought him more supplies and fresh food, but the last week had brought one anomaly alert after another and he’d been too busy trying to keep up with the job as it was without coming to baby sit Lyle.
The empty air where the anomaly should have been beckoned to him mockingly and if Lyle closed his eyes tightly, he could picture exactly what it should have looked like; a myriad of broken lights, the facets reflecting off of each other with a light that didn’t belong to this world.
Gostegion had been so fascinated by it, by the idea of stepping into a different space and time where no-one else had ever been. She used to talk about it at night sometimes and he’d let her run along with the idea, a few times even borrowing books from Temple and the Professor to put up on the projector for her.
Sometimes he wondered if things would have been any different if he hadn’t.
~.~.~.
The next time Lyle opened his eyes, it was night, the darkness kept at bay only by a small crackling fire. The soldier jerked awake with a low cry, the sound of leathery wings and screeching tires still ringing loudly in his ears.
It took him a moment to focus on his current surroundings and wipe the remains of the nightmare from his mind. As soon as he took in the familiar figure sitting on the other side of the campfire, Lyle’s frame slumped and he pressed his forehead against his pulled-up knees, waiting for his heart to stop trying to pound its way out of his chest.
Ryan didn’t say a word, simply waited for him until the other man finally looked up again and rubbed his too tired eyes.
“Been here for long?” Lyle rasped, before reaching out for his canteen and rinsing the foul taste of bile and fear out of his mouth.
“Couple of hours, since sunset.” Ryan replied quietly, causing Lyle to relax further.
The other Captain must have arrived shortly after he’d fallen asleep, slimming down any chance that the anomaly had come back and he’d missed it.
Ryan reached for a large thermos and poured what smelt like stew into a bowl, steam rinsing up in thick clouds from it. “Eat,” he ordered succinctly. Lyle’s stomach grumbled loudly in agreement as he moved to sit next to the other soldier and took the offered bowl.
For a long moment Lyle just wrapped his hands around it, waiting for them to warm up before tucking into the food. Even without looking, Lyle could feel Ryan’s bulk next to him, reassuring and so familiarly solid.
“You look like crap, Jon.” Ryan’s soft words sounded about as tired as Lyle felt but the dark-haired captain still managed to offer his friend a twisted smile.
“I thought fresh air and country living were supposed to be good for your health and all that, mate,” he replied, with a trace of his usual brash grin that didn’t in any way fool the other soldier.
Even so, Ryan chuckled softly and rested a large hand on the back of Lyle’s neck, squeezing gently as he rubbed his thumb against the other man’s jaw.“I think right now the best thing you could get is a decent nights’ sleep but since I don’t stand a cat in hell’s chance of talking you into going back to the village to sleep in a real bed, I’m not going to waste my breath.”
Lyle ducked his head, not bothering to deny the fact. “You shouldn’t be here yourself, I don’t need a baby-sitter, you know.” Despite his words, Lyle leaned slightly into the other man’s touch. The weeks of solitary vigil at the anomaly site were taking their toll on his normally gregarious nature.
Ryan only hummed gently in response and kept up stroking Lyle’s neck like he would do to a house cat, albeit a large and rather dangerous one.
“Once you’re done with that, you can go back to sleep. I have the day off tomorrow and one sleepless night won’t kill me.” Ryan didn’t need to point out for what would have been the umpteenth time, that if the anomaly did reopen and Lyle managed to go back to the same time Gostegion had been trapped in, he would need to be in full strength in order to maximise their chances of survival.
Lyle sighed and closed his eyes, enjoying the touch, the company and the food. Ryan’s presence was helping to sooth a little a part of him that had felt raw and open ever since he had woken up in a hospital with Gostegion trapped in the past.
“A full night sleep sounds pretty damn good, Tom, thanks,” the soldier murmured softly.
“You should let your crew help with the guard duty. They’ve not been reassigned and they’re just as worried as you are, Jon,” Ryan chided him softly and tightened his grip on the other man’s neck. It made him ache to see his friend in such a state and the fact that he knew exactly what Lyle was going through didn’t make the matter any easier. In fact, over the last few weeks as he’d lain awake in Chandra’s den, Ryan had often needed to fight the waves of guilt at the thought that even though he had lost his entire crew at least Chandrakant was still by his side.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, mate, but my last conversation with Kalti didn’t go very well,” Lyle snorted softly.
“I think every dragon in the covert noticed it. Brilliant thinking to have a raging argument with your Lieutenant in Ghosty’s den, Jon.” The other captain sighed and shook his head. “You know how they are; by the end of the day every sodding aviator with a set of ears on their heads knew about it.”
Ryan had tried to keep the two apart long enough for Lyle to cool off slightly, but Kalti was nothing if not as stubborn as his Captain. He had found Lyle in Gostegion’s den only days after the other soldier had been released from the hospital. Kalti was already blaming himself for Gostegion’s current MIA status without his captain’s help, and Lyle had found in the man the perfect outlet for his guilt and anger. The fact that the lieutenant was not the kind to take a rimming quietly ensured that the effect had been explosive.
“You do know you’re going to have to fix things up at some point?” Ryan elbowed the other man gently and Lyle nodded.
“I know. I know it wasn’t his fault. I would probably have made the same decisions Kalti did if I’d been in his place.” The words were spoken softly, but they were a beginning.
“You’d better catch some sleep, Jon.” Ryan said with a smile and a final squeeze of Lyle’s shoulder. “I talked to the owner of the local pub before coming over today and they’ll be bringing you some food and a charged mobile battery every couple of days. Not sure if you’ve noticed but yours has been dead since Wednesday, mate.”
“I thought I was past the need for a nurse-maid, Ryan.” Lyle rolled his eyes and stretched out, popping his neck and back with an audible crack before getting up. “It’s a good thing I like you but you are one big fuss.”
“You must be feeling better; you’re sounding like your usual arse-hole self again,” snorted the other captain.
Ryan watched as Lyle went about the small camp cleaning up and preparing for the night and he wished, not for the first time, that he could just tell the other man how he felt. But, like every other time he had let himself reflect on the issue, he knew there was real no point in doing so. In Jon he had his best friend and his lover, no matter how casual the second was. Saying something to change their status quo just felt selfish and pointless. At least that was what Ryan kept telling himself as the other soldier fell asleep with his head brushing Ryan’s leg and he found himself running his fingers through short dark hair.
Characters: Lyle (OC), Ryan
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Lyle belongs to fredbassett and she is just her usual awesome self for letting me play with him, Ryan belongs to Impossible Pictures.
Summary: Lyle has started his vigil and he has a visitor.
A/N 1: This is a big jump into the AU world. There are still anomalies, there's still a team and there is even an ARC. There has also been a slight twist in evolution somewhere along the line and one more sentient species shares the Earth with humans, dragons.
A/N 2: Finally we got to the main storyline all the prequels have been building up to so far. This takes place around what would have been season 2 of the series, in 2008.
A/N 3: For a full list of all Sharing a World AU stories please have a look here. Thanks to fredbassett as always for the great beta, all remaining mistakes are mine.
Chapter 3
The clearing where the anomaly had first appeared was now deserted. All remains of the personnel involved with the project had been completely removed from the area. The only marks left behind were the broken branches of a small tree at the edge of the clearing where Gostegion had scratched herself that morning, now a month ago.
Lyle lay back against the wide tree trunk with a tired sigh. He’d been released from the Covert’s infirmary nearly three weeks ago and Ryan had barely managed to keep him resting and off his injury for another week before the guard duty at the anomaly site had been revoked. As soon as he could, Lyle had parked his arse at the anomaly site and had not moved since.
Ryan had brought him more supplies and fresh food, but the last week had brought one anomaly alert after another and he’d been too busy trying to keep up with the job as it was without coming to baby sit Lyle.
The empty air where the anomaly should have been beckoned to him mockingly and if Lyle closed his eyes tightly, he could picture exactly what it should have looked like; a myriad of broken lights, the facets reflecting off of each other with a light that didn’t belong to this world.
Gostegion had been so fascinated by it, by the idea of stepping into a different space and time where no-one else had ever been. She used to talk about it at night sometimes and he’d let her run along with the idea, a few times even borrowing books from Temple and the Professor to put up on the projector for her.
Sometimes he wondered if things would have been any different if he hadn’t.
~.~.~.
The next time Lyle opened his eyes, it was night, the darkness kept at bay only by a small crackling fire. The soldier jerked awake with a low cry, the sound of leathery wings and screeching tires still ringing loudly in his ears.
It took him a moment to focus on his current surroundings and wipe the remains of the nightmare from his mind. As soon as he took in the familiar figure sitting on the other side of the campfire, Lyle’s frame slumped and he pressed his forehead against his pulled-up knees, waiting for his heart to stop trying to pound its way out of his chest.
Ryan didn’t say a word, simply waited for him until the other man finally looked up again and rubbed his too tired eyes.
“Been here for long?” Lyle rasped, before reaching out for his canteen and rinsing the foul taste of bile and fear out of his mouth.
“Couple of hours, since sunset.” Ryan replied quietly, causing Lyle to relax further.
The other Captain must have arrived shortly after he’d fallen asleep, slimming down any chance that the anomaly had come back and he’d missed it.
Ryan reached for a large thermos and poured what smelt like stew into a bowl, steam rinsing up in thick clouds from it. “Eat,” he ordered succinctly. Lyle’s stomach grumbled loudly in agreement as he moved to sit next to the other soldier and took the offered bowl.
For a long moment Lyle just wrapped his hands around it, waiting for them to warm up before tucking into the food. Even without looking, Lyle could feel Ryan’s bulk next to him, reassuring and so familiarly solid.
“You look like crap, Jon.” Ryan’s soft words sounded about as tired as Lyle felt but the dark-haired captain still managed to offer his friend a twisted smile.
“I thought fresh air and country living were supposed to be good for your health and all that, mate,” he replied, with a trace of his usual brash grin that didn’t in any way fool the other soldier.
Even so, Ryan chuckled softly and rested a large hand on the back of Lyle’s neck, squeezing gently as he rubbed his thumb against the other man’s jaw.“I think right now the best thing you could get is a decent nights’ sleep but since I don’t stand a cat in hell’s chance of talking you into going back to the village to sleep in a real bed, I’m not going to waste my breath.”
Lyle ducked his head, not bothering to deny the fact. “You shouldn’t be here yourself, I don’t need a baby-sitter, you know.” Despite his words, Lyle leaned slightly into the other man’s touch. The weeks of solitary vigil at the anomaly site were taking their toll on his normally gregarious nature.
Ryan only hummed gently in response and kept up stroking Lyle’s neck like he would do to a house cat, albeit a large and rather dangerous one.
“Once you’re done with that, you can go back to sleep. I have the day off tomorrow and one sleepless night won’t kill me.” Ryan didn’t need to point out for what would have been the umpteenth time, that if the anomaly did reopen and Lyle managed to go back to the same time Gostegion had been trapped in, he would need to be in full strength in order to maximise their chances of survival.
Lyle sighed and closed his eyes, enjoying the touch, the company and the food. Ryan’s presence was helping to sooth a little a part of him that had felt raw and open ever since he had woken up in a hospital with Gostegion trapped in the past.
“A full night sleep sounds pretty damn good, Tom, thanks,” the soldier murmured softly.
“You should let your crew help with the guard duty. They’ve not been reassigned and they’re just as worried as you are, Jon,” Ryan chided him softly and tightened his grip on the other man’s neck. It made him ache to see his friend in such a state and the fact that he knew exactly what Lyle was going through didn’t make the matter any easier. In fact, over the last few weeks as he’d lain awake in Chandra’s den, Ryan had often needed to fight the waves of guilt at the thought that even though he had lost his entire crew at least Chandrakant was still by his side.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, mate, but my last conversation with Kalti didn’t go very well,” Lyle snorted softly.
“I think every dragon in the covert noticed it. Brilliant thinking to have a raging argument with your Lieutenant in Ghosty’s den, Jon.” The other captain sighed and shook his head. “You know how they are; by the end of the day every sodding aviator with a set of ears on their heads knew about it.”
Ryan had tried to keep the two apart long enough for Lyle to cool off slightly, but Kalti was nothing if not as stubborn as his Captain. He had found Lyle in Gostegion’s den only days after the other soldier had been released from the hospital. Kalti was already blaming himself for Gostegion’s current MIA status without his captain’s help, and Lyle had found in the man the perfect outlet for his guilt and anger. The fact that the lieutenant was not the kind to take a rimming quietly ensured that the effect had been explosive.
“You do know you’re going to have to fix things up at some point?” Ryan elbowed the other man gently and Lyle nodded.
“I know. I know it wasn’t his fault. I would probably have made the same decisions Kalti did if I’d been in his place.” The words were spoken softly, but they were a beginning.
“You’d better catch some sleep, Jon.” Ryan said with a smile and a final squeeze of Lyle’s shoulder. “I talked to the owner of the local pub before coming over today and they’ll be bringing you some food and a charged mobile battery every couple of days. Not sure if you’ve noticed but yours has been dead since Wednesday, mate.”
“I thought I was past the need for a nurse-maid, Ryan.” Lyle rolled his eyes and stretched out, popping his neck and back with an audible crack before getting up. “It’s a good thing I like you but you are one big fuss.”
“You must be feeling better; you’re sounding like your usual arse-hole self again,” snorted the other captain.
Ryan watched as Lyle went about the small camp cleaning up and preparing for the night and he wished, not for the first time, that he could just tell the other man how he felt. But, like every other time he had let himself reflect on the issue, he knew there was real no point in doing so. In Jon he had his best friend and his lover, no matter how casual the second was. Saying something to change their status quo just felt selfish and pointless. At least that was what Ryan kept telling himself as the other soldier fell asleep with his head brushing Ryan’s leg and he found himself running his fingers through short dark hair.