Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s the rising sun that wakes Tim from his slumber, the softly shifting hues of true darkness fading into soft grays and pastels as the luminous orb peeks over the horizon. He sleeps with his curtains open and at this time of year, the window too so that the night air cools down the wretchedly warm interior of the sprawling ranch house. Late summer has finally reached the Sanctuary, bringing with it a reminder that he still hasn’t repaired the air conditioning unit that broke last month.

He should really get to that before his mom arrives. Used to the comforts of the city as she is, he doubts she’ll appreciate just a ceiling fan moving the warm air around. 

The repairs get moved higher up his never-ending to-do list. 

Tim stretches and yawns widely, revealing sharper than usual teeth for the average human. His friend Kon likes to joke he’s part vampire on the rare occasions they meet up these days. The joke has been ongoing since college. 

His stomach rumbles and from the foot of the bed, Ace, his Rottweiler, raises his big head. 

“Don’t worry, boy. I’ll feed you soon too.” 

In these early hours of the day, Tim enjoys taking his time to wake up, slowly sipping at his coffee out on the front deck while Ace roots around the yard sniffing out the various critters that crossed it during the night. 

It’s nice. It’s peaceful. And most importantly, it’s quiet. 

Three years he’s been out here now, far away from his old life back in Gotham with his mother. He’d grown up with a sensitivity to sound, one so pronounced that once it was officially diagnosed, he went through his day to day routine with white-noise headphones practically glued to his head after his audio integration training AIT sessions failed. His mother wasn’t happy about it, not that she ever said anything directly to him. But for a woman who strived for perfection in everything, the fact her son wasn’t quite perfect had to be irksome. 

Their relationship is much better now that Tim’s way out here, alone except for Ace and the dragons. 

Not for the first time, Tim sends a brief prayer of thanksgiving to Bruce Wayne for giving him this opportunity. A random conversation with his son Damian during one of the rare social events he attended (an evening garden party of all things) and a few days later, he was invited back to Wayne Manor for a discussion that changed his life for the better. 

Tim is pretty sure the fresh air and sunshine has helped loads too. Reclusive doesn’t even begin to describe his previous life, even after college. His small talent for magic ensured he went to the right school, not that his abilities impressed his mother much. She wanted him to go to MIT or CalTech, not some mage school out in the middle of nowhere. 

He’s still glad he put his foot down on that one. It’s served him well here on the Sanctuary, even if he still can’t get those blasted shackles off Jason’s legs. 

The sound of a phone pierces the still morning air, the ring tone telling him right away who’s calling this early. 

Hauling himself to his feet, Tim heads back inside and unplugs his cell phone from the charger in the kitchen. It’s days like this that he curses the cell tower Bruce made sure was here so that the outside world can contact him. 

He’s turning into such a hick. Kon would be proud.

“Morning, Mom,” Tim answers just before the call goes to voicemail. “You do know what time it is, right?” 

“You’re up with the dawn. I made sure to check what time that was beforehand, dear,” Janet says with a light laugh. Someone must have already had her happy juice or whatever she’s calling her newest cleanse these days. 

“Still doesn’t mean I’ve finished my first cup of coffee yet.” Tim heads back outside to his abandoned cup and sits down on the porch swing. The boards creak softly in protest. 

“You really should cut back on that stuff. It always makes you so jittery.”

“That was when I was sixteen and trying to test out of high school.” 

“My how time flies, doesn’t it?” Tim can just picture the absent smile on his mom’s face. She sounds distracted. Probably getting in her premarket trades for the day. That’s what he always remembered her doing whenever he had to get up early or went to bed late. 

“Almost ten years.” He waits and takes another sip of his coffee. Eventually, the point of this call will be revealed. 

“I’m thinking about rescheduling my trip to come see you. I got a call from Professor Johnston yesterday, you remember him, don’t you? Used to work with your father on that dig down in the Yucatán.” 

Tim doesn’t but he knows better than to admit it. Already, he can see where this story is going and moves fixing the air conditioner back down his list. 

“... So I decided to take this opportunity and get back into some field work. I leave in two weeks, which would cut our visit short.”

“That’s great, Mom. It’ll be nice for you to get out of that office for a change. When was the last time you really left Gotham?” Tim knows the words she wants to hear. The words that make her happy with her decision, words that put off yet another trip out here to visit him. He hasn’t seen his mom in two years. 

The rest of the conversation doesn’t really register, but Tim makes the appropriate sounds in the right places. By the time he hangs up, he’s ready to crawl back into bed. 

Sighing, he looks down at Ace who’s taken cover under the swing, nervous over the invisible voice he can’t see. Video chats he’s fine with, the silly mutt. “Guess you won’t be meeting Mom anytime soon, boy.”

The dog snuffs at his hand and emerges. 

“That’s okay. Bart will be here next month for a couple weeks. You’ll love him. It’s hard to say which is faster, his feet or his mouth.” 

With that, Tim finishes his coffee and heads back inside to make breakfast. As he gets ready for his day, he shoves aside thoughts of his mom and focuses on what he really needs to. 

The plasma cutter arrived yesterday in his supply delivery from Bruce and he’d spent the evening practicing on some stray bits of metal in the barn to get a feel for the device. His new portable batteries spent the night charging and he already loaded the heavy fire blanket and protective gear he needs to wear in the back of his truck. 

It all depends now on whether Jason will even let him get close enough to try. Steph told him that the big black dragon is on board, but he’s an ornery bastard and refuses to speak directly with Tim on general principle because he’s human. Not that he can blame the dragon for this, considering the abuse he experienced before being rescued by Diana herself. 

Cass has told him privately that Jason waxes poetic about the dragon ambassador to the human world. Tim’s met her several times, so he completely understands.

The last time he saw her, she brought Jason with her, freshly rescued from an underground fighting arena where he’d been a slave for a few decades. There was so much blood and Tim still isn’t entirely sure if he managed to save that eye. Thanks to those damned shackles Jason still wears that absorb all forms of magic, the great black dragon is unable to tap into his own innate abilities, access his fire, or even fly, not that the absolute wreck of his left wing would be capable of that even if his magic is restored, but that’s beside the point. 

The plasma cutter has to work. It just has to. Magic has failed so it’s time for an utterly human approach, one that’s based on science and technology. The question is, will the plasma itself be hot enough to damage even dragon scales? According to his studies, nothing flammable penetrates dragon hide due to their inherent magical nature. But with Jason’s magic sealed away, who knows what will happen? 

“I’ll find out soon enough, boy,” Tim says as he opens the door to his truck for Ace to jump in. The dog does so less than gracefully, as usual, nails scraping against the side of the cab. 

Climbing in after him, the engine rumbles to life and they’re on their way to the roost. 

The sun hasn’t yet cleared the top of the bluff when Jason hears the distant creak and groan of a truck. It’s a familiar enough now that it doesn’t send a shiver down his spine. He has no reason to like humans, not after what they did to him. Years of pain and torture can’t be made up for by the attentions of a single representative of the race.  

Still, he will privately admit to himself this one doesn’t seem so bad. Steph and Cass, the two females who currently make the rather aptly named Sanctuary their home, have both told him they suspect there’s dragon blood in their caretaker’s veins, that this is why Tim is so easy to feel comfortable around. 

Jason doesn’t want to believe it. That means a dragon bound their soul to a human and was able to take their form through the power of their souls becoming one. Dragon lore is full of stories about the fabled soul bond. They’re the only race that can bond in such a way with others, dragon or otherwise. He can accept that it happens with other magical, sentient races, like the gryphons or the mers under the sea. But humans? 

It makes him sick to his stomach. 

He huffs a sigh and shifts uncomfortably on the high perch he’s claimed for his own, basking in the early morning rays of sunlight. The rocky shelf overlooks the narrow valley, dense forest of vibrant green shielding the winding stream from view. This tapers away into rolling grasslands that are only broken by another shallow valley in the distance that shelters more woodlands. After the chaos of the fighting pits, the calm serenity is soothing on his raw nerves. 

If it weren’t for the presence of the human, he would have no problem making this beautiful place his home. At least the human is somewhat useful, his healing magic having managed to mostly save the vision in his damaged eye.

It still doesn’t stop Jason from occasionally entertaining the thought of eating him.

Down below, the truck comes to a stop in front of the caves the females have claimed for their own. Cass hides in the shadows, on purpose or accident, he can’t decide. Her eyes no longer see the way his or Steph’s do, so some of her actions are difficult for him to understand. He can’t believe she trusts the human to come anywhere close to her after her own experiences, but her scent is always calm when Tim is around. 

Steph’s too, which is insane considering she’s got a little one running wild. Her offspring is barely out of the egg and already she’s leaving her with Tim and his dog when she wants to hunt or take Cass flying. 

Who leaves their hatchling with a human? 

Jason snorts again, and glares as the kit rushes out of the roost and tackles the black and brown dog. One day, she’s going to eat him, he’s sure of it. Maybe that will be the day he eats the human too. Then there will be peace and quiet all around.

“Someone’s in a sour mood.” Stephanie gracefully lands beside him, her purple hide shimmering in the golden sunlight. She drops the haunch of an antelope to the side, for him or her kit, he doesn’t know. Most of the fresh meat in the roost is provided by her, the only of them who can properly use all her senses when she swoops down from above for the kill. “I can scent your displeasure from a mile up.” 

“I have to interact with the human today. How else am I supposed to feel?” 

Steph tosses her head and laughs, a quick burst of flame lighting up the air. “If what Tim has planned works, maybe you’ll start using his name. Or even speaking to him.” 

Jason stares longingly at the faint smoke left behind. His fire has been dampened for a few decades thanks to the shackles and chains that kept him a slave to the Black Mask. The same shackles that are still clamped around his limbs, the ones that burn in his nightmares as everything he ever knew was stripped away from him, leaving only pain. So much pain. “Nothing else has worked, so why should this? A human tool against magic? He should just give up and call Diana. Maybe the mages of Themyscira can figure the damned spells out.” 

The baleful look Steph gives him would make a weaker beast quake. Jason doesn’t back down. He’s mastered his own version, the only form of defiance he had against his captors. Until Diana arrived in all her blue and gold glory, freeing him. He can still feel Sionis’s blood soaking his claws when he ripped him to shreds.

“Tim is much more resourceful than you’re giving him credit for. He’s helped Cass, he’s helped me, he can help you. Just give him a chance.” 

“If you’re worried I’ll try to kill him if this machine of his doesn’t work, then don’t be.” Jason huffs, the complete lack of even a hint of flame reminding him just how broken he is. Fuck, if he can just get his flame back, he can deal with never flying again. With the condition his wing is in after the battle to free him and the other magical creatures Black Mask kept captive, he’ll be surprised if he will ever have the strength to take flight, even with his magic to boost him and provide lift. Not with his bulk. Who’d have thought that even in captivity, he’d grow to this size? 

“I’m not,” Steph snorts. “Cass and I won’t let you and I can already tell you’d sooner die than disappoint Kit. She adores Tim.” 

This is true but he refuses to acknowledge it. The little dragon managed to worm her way into the remnants of his heart within hours of his arrival. He’d shred his own wings first before causing her pain, just as he’d gleefully shred the human who forced Stephanie into the breeding program that resulted in the hatchling.

Not that he ever plans to tell his companion that either. Her pain and his pain are on drastically different levels and he would never presume to understand what she went through. The fact that she’s come out the back end of it with such positivity is something he still can’t wrap his head around. “Whatever, let’s get this over with so I can laugh when it fails.” 

Steph brushes against his shoulder as she picks up the haunch in her taloned feet. “If this works, you’ll start speaking directly to Tim. In his language. No more speaking only Draconic to me and Cass to ignore him.” 

Jason glares. He’s spoken nothing but human languages for years. To speak his own after three decades of slavery? That’s something he won’t take for granted ever again.

“No promises.”

Tim watches Kit and Ace chase each other around upon his arrival to the roost. The newborn dragon is only a few months out of her egg and is about the same size as his dog, so it’s unsurprising they’re playmates. Her opalescent skin shimmers with its own inner light here in the shadows of the bluff, picking up one color, then another, flashing through all the colors of the rainbow and then some. From his studies, in addition to what Stephanie and Cass have told him about young dragons, this particular trait is drastically muted in times of danger. It makes him happy that he’s never seen Kit bathed in anything but color.

Glancing up to the top of the cliff-face, Tim takes in the sight of the purple dragon that has become such a close friend. Steph won’t be going anywhere for years, not until Kit goes through her first molt, and that’s fine with him. He notices that Jason is up there with her, glaring down at him.

“Sometimes, it’s so tempting to flip him off,” he mutters to Cass.

The other black dragon in his care huffs in what is a delicate laugh for her race. “If your plan works today, it will do wonders in changing his attitude toward you.”

“Me in general or humans as a whole?”

“You in general. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.” Cass’s maw pulls back in a grin, flashing wickedly sharp teeth that are as white as her sightless eyes. “I think we are all curious to see what happens.”

“You and me both.”

Tim runs a hand under her chin, scratching there briefly much like he would a cat, and smiles as she starts purring. His smaller black dragon is extremely tactile and uses all of her mighty senses to make up for the vision she no longer has. The story behind how she lost her sight is one he doesn’t know all the details of, but what they have accomplished since her arrival here at Sanctuary two years ago is nothing short of miraculous.

Cass may not be able to see in the traditional sense, but between his healing magics and her own not inconsiderable talent, she can now see auras, that mystical energy connecting all living things. Thanks to this newfound confidence, she’s been able to take to the skies again, using Stephanie as a guide.

From high above, the vibrantly colored female glides down with spread wings to land gracefully several meters from where her daughter is playing. There’s a haunch of meat in her grip, which Kit spots right away and abandons Ace for without a second thought, immediately engaging her mother in a game of tug o’ war over her morning meal.

Looking up again, Tim catches Jason’s tail lashing out over the top of the cliff as he takes the slower route down.

“He is proud,” Cass announces, her gaze up on the cliffs as well. “But not unreasonable. If he were a complete jackass, do you think Stephanie would let him anywhere near Kit?”

Tim laughs quietly and shakes his head. He’s seen Kit curled up fast asleep between Jason’s forelegs, the larger male seemingly bewildered by this turn of events while at the same time not daring to move because he doesn’t want to wake her up. That was a day Tim wished he’d had a camera handy.

Jason appears from around the edge of the bluff, a challenge in each and every step he takes. He’s humoring Tim and is making sure he knows it.

Sighing, Tim heads toward the back of his truck to unload his equipment. The motto of his favorite television show might be failure is always an option , but today, failure is anything but.

The sun has fully cleared the top of the bluff by the time he has the portable batteries, the plasma cutter, and his safety gear ready. With a little coaxing, Jason is directed to lay down on a wide stretch of sandstone outside the roost to help cut down the risk of a stray spark igniting a wildfire. That’s the last thing Tim needs to deal with, even though those are very real concerns anytime a dragon is around.

He hopes Jason doesn’t start one out of spite.

Tim kneels on the fire blanket he laid out over the rock and inspects the shackle magically sealed around the black dragon’s foreleg. The flat gray steel doesn’t look like much, but from what he’s learned of these, the inscriptions on the inside press against the skin beneath, forcing the binding spells to stay in place. It takes an incredible amount of power to fuel such spells and for these to have been on for as long as they have, Jason must be quite the mage.

Or has the potential to be one. Diana had said he was captured young, probably not long after his second molt.

“Are you ready?” Tim asks, directing the question to Jason despite knowing he won’t answer it.

He’s ignored, but with Cass and Steph stretched out alongside him, he still gets an answer.

“Almost,” Cass replies. “The barrier is… finicky.”

No one is sure how resistant Jason is to heat and fire with his magic sealed away, so the females are attempting to create a thin barrier between the shackle and the skin beneath. From the frustrated sounds occurring in Draconic, it doesn’t sound like it’s going well. Cass is currently the strongest mage present while Steph has admitted to barely having enough innate talent to get herself off the ground and to breathe fire. Kit is far too young for any of her magics to manifest yet.

Jason finally growls out something and the bickering subsides. A brief exchange follows that results in a staring match between Steph and Jason. Tim tries not to laugh. They’re both so strong willed, he has a hard time seeing either one backing down soon.

“You’re both acting like hatchlings,” Cass announces in a tongue Tim can understand and turns to him. “The barrier isn’t working, but Jason says to go ahead regardless.”

“Is that actually what he said or are you being polite?” Tim asks, lowering his face shield.

Jason growls and twitches his foreleg impatiently.

“It loses meaning in translation,” Cass states blandly, which has Steph snorting in laughter.

The look Jason shoots them both tells Tim all he needs to know. “Don’t worry about them, Jason. They like to gang up on me too.”

With that, he depresses the switch and the plasma cutter comes to life, spitting sparks and heat, and surprisingly little noise. There are two places on the shackles that he has identified as weak points and he goes after the lock first. With the lock gone, the hinged metal should swing open, allowing Jason to free himself.

The lock is thick, thicker than anything he practiced on the night before, and takes more time than he would like. Metal glows brightly under his hands and it pains Tim to think that he’s causing more hurt to the incredible beast he has sworn to help, but Jason doesn’t move. Not a twitch, not a word or pained breath.

Even he has to see that it’s working.

Under his mask, Tim grins as he keeps his hand steady. The temptation to move the cutter back and forth faster grows, but he taps it down. Just like with the tortoise and the hare, slow and steady will win this race.

After ten agonizing minutes, the lock falls off and the shackle falls open.

No one breathes as Jason slowly, carefully, raises his leg. Tim sets aside the cutter and hurls the remains of the shackle off to the side.

The freshly revealed skin is pale and gray, withered, sickly. It’s also burned on one side where the sparks and heat from the plasma cutter seared into the flesh. That answers one question… Jason felt every single agonizing moment as the shackle was cut away.

Tim sucks in a deep breath and raises the face shield. “Jason, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Jason shifts around and brings his other foreleg to rest on the fire blanket, teal gaze intent and burning hotter than the plasma cutter in Tim’s hand. “Don’t stop,” he growls, his words as clear as day. “Don’t you dare stop now.”

The pain is excruciating. There isn’t any other way Jason can describe it. The searing heat from the melting metal, the sparks that splatter against his skin, he never quite understood how much his magic protected him from fire until it was stripped away from him.

But unlike other forms of pain he’s known, this pain carries with it the promise of freedom.

He can bear it. For this chance, this golden opportunity, he will take whatever is thrown at him and endure because each agonizing second is one second closer to when he will be free of these chains.

He’ll even call the human by name and speak to him.

Free of three shackles with the fourth more than halfway done, Jason already feels different. Lighter. Brighter even, if that makes any sense. Which he bets it would to anyone who has even an iota of magical talent. More importantly though, deep in his gullet, the fires that have been extinguished for so long are starting to burn again.

Almost there. He can stand it for just a little longer. Almost there…

The last lock falls to the ground and Jason kicks out hard with his hind leg, flinging the last shackle off and sending it flying over the edge of the cliff and into the narrow canyon below.

Like a river breaching its banks, his magic floods through him, racing along every nerve and firing senses that have long since been dulled. 

Jason is pulled along with it, welcoming the raw power welling up from inside of him. Rising from the ground, he rears back and roars at the sky. Distantly, he hears Cass and Stephanie, and even the little kitten, roaring with him. His happiness, his freedom, this victory is theirs to share. Heat simmers low in his throat and he does it again, flames erupting forth and igniting the sky. 

The human did it. He returned his fire to him. 

For that, he will finally acknowledge him. The females were right, it truly is safe to trust in this man. This human who clearly has no idea what’s in his bloodline. Settling back onto all fours, he ignores the burning pain stabbing at his limbs. Those burns will heal soon enough, probably with scars that he’ll carry for the rest of his days.

That’s okay. He’s free.  

Tim stands beside Cass, small even compared to her short stature, welding mask pushed back and grinning as wide as his face can stretch. 

Jason has a brief moment to notice he has blue eyes that match the sky overhead when his soul wrenches, reaching out to snag and entwine with Tim’s. 

What. The. FUCK?  

Tim blinks quickly, brows narrowing as he takes note that something is happening but not sure what. But Jason does. He’s a dragon born and bred, he knows what this call is, the throbbing pulse he now feels alongside his own. Stories told to him by his parents before he was stolen from them are coming to life and all he wants is to scream his pain all over again.

A soul bond. 

His soulmate is a fucking human. 

Jason roars again, his agonized wail forcing Tim to his knees, his own face scrunched in pain as he clutches at the sides of his head.

No, this can’t be happening. Not to him. Not with a human. Ignoring the roars and questions from the females, Jason runs, racing away from the roost.

Chapter Text

Jason snorts, reveling in the smoke that graces the air. His new favorite perch on the cliff overlooking the narrow river may not have the full range of sunlight that he still quietly revels in after years of cages and dark confines, but it does have one massive advantage the old one doesn’t. 

Solitude. 

It’s been four days since the human Tim restored his magic and his flames to him. Four days since those wretched shackles came off. Four days since he learned a hated human is his soulmate. Here he was, firm in his beliefs that he’s too broken, damaged, scarred , to ever find a partner. A mate. 

Now he has a soulmate and he’s got absolutely no idea what to do next. Hiding seemed like the best decision when he ran from the roost, hiding because he can’t fly away from everything and anything that hurts him.  

His ankles are still scorched from the plasma cutter, the skin rough and crumbly to the touch, but the pain is fading fast, his natural ability to heal amplified by the return of his magics. The females have done nothing but hound him over his avoidance of the roost, wanting him to return so that Tim can heal him.

Tim. Timothy. Family name is Drake, which is just stupid, even though it does lend some credence to the theory that Tim has dragon blood somewhere in his family tree. Are humans matriarchal or patriarchal? He’s never cared to find out. Probably should now. 

Jason takes a deep breath and slowly blows a small jet of flame into the air, careful to avoid the branches above. His control needs some work after so long. Now if only his wing would heal faster. Instantly, he shakes his head and blows more smoke, fogging the air around him even more. 

He has his fire back. And his magic. He can’t ask for more than that, not with the condition his wing is still in. 

A niggling little voice that sounds a hell of a lot like Steph says his flight could return if he combines his newfound magics with Tim’s, providing a boost to the healing spells his human commands. 

His human. Fuck. What did he do to deserve this? 

A bonding of two souls happens once in a lifetime. Or more than one lifetime if the stories his mother told him long ago are to be believed. Perhaps he and Tim have been bonded in some past life and are just now finding each other again. 

Jason snorts, unhappy with the maudlin nature of his thoughts. The past doesn’t matter. This lifetime, he’s been trapped and enslaved for more decades than he wants to remember. That isn’t something he can overlook or forgive, even if he knows it’s completely illogical to base a decision about a single person on other examples of his race. 

He also understands that the bonding of two souls is not something he or the other has any control over. That it’s all chance, destiny, or even the gods themselves. He can rage and roar all he wants, but what’s done is done. 

So here he is, wallowing in abject misery because yet again, life just wants to do nothing but screw him over. 

A rustling of leaves and the snap of branches warns him that someone is approaching. He casts his senses out, the range further now with the magic to boost it. Ozone-kissed air tickles his nostrils, a unique scent to all dragons. But it’s the cool, serene aura that has helped calm his raw nerves for weeks now that tells him Cass has ventured out to join him in his self-imposed isolation. 

“Go away,” he rumbles, not even bothering to look at the other dragon. 

“No,” Cass replies firmly. She settles down beside him, her smaller form finding purchase on the cliff. “I know what happened, Jason. I saw it.”

“You saw nothing.” 

Just because Cass was smaller than him doesn’t mean she can’t cause him pain. She nips at his shoulder, hard enough to feel it, like she would when reprimanding Kit. “I saw everything,” she repeats. “Your magic burns bright as the sun. Anyone with an iota of talent within five hundred miles felt its unleashing. But only I saw the moment when your soul and Tim’s joined together and became as one. It is a sight I will treasure forever.” 

Jason is on the verge of saying she can’t see shit when he remembers how her eyes work. That she not only can sense auras, but uses them to navigate, which she had to have done to join him here. 

“Why?” he asks instead, sounding like a whiny little hatchling instead of a mature adult. “After everything I’ve gone through, all the pain, why is my soulmate a human?” 

“I don’t know,” Cass replies simply, resting her head on the back of Jason’s neck. The attempt at comfort feels nice, the touch of another of his kind more welcome than anything else. “I could say the gods work in mysterious ways, but I’m not entirely sure you believe in our gods anymore.” 

“Not really.” Another thought occurs to him. “Does Steph or Tim know what happened?” 

“No, they don’t. Stephanie is upset because she feels you’re treating Tim unfairly after everything he did to help. Tim, I suspect, is completely unaware of what passed between you. He asks about you when he comes to the roost and has said that he’d like to get a look at your legs because he knows that cutter burned you.”  

Jason glances at his forelegs, at the burned skin. “I’ll think about it,” he offers, not wanting to commit to anything. 

Cass doesn’t press and is quiet for a time, her presence soothing him as much as the burbling stream below and the wind blowing gently through the trees. He’s spent so much time in a cage that he had forgotten the beauty of the natural world. Unsurprising, really, with all the ugliness and squalor he lived in.  

“I think you need to take what the humans call a leap of faith,” she says eventually. “What you’ve endured, what I’ve had done to me, all of that shapes who we are going forward. What we do now are choices we make, not anyone else. You are now walking your path side by side with another, one you know is destined to be with you forever and always, in this life and beyond.” 

Her words echo Jason’s previous thoughts and for a moment he wonders if she’s a telepath. “What if I don’t want to share my path with another?”  

“Then you are doing yourself a disservice by not taking the time to learn more about Tim before making such a declaration. Your wounds are such you will be here at Sanctuary for a long time. Will it really be so painful to use this opportunity to learn more about your soulmate?”  

Jason is about to bite out a sharp yes, but he swallows his words because Cass is right. He’s in no condition to make his way out in the world, and won’t be for a while, even after his wing heals. The traumas he endured are more than skin deep. He needs time. He needs peace.  

“I fucking hate it when you’re right.”  

Cass snorts in amusement and curls up closer. “You’re welcome.”  

It takes another day before Jason decides to leave his perch. Over the years, he’s managed to perfect his ability to stew over his circumstances, so now that he has the option to actually do something about it, he’s damn well going to. Take his life back and all that.  

He wanders the Sanctuary, exploring the rolling hills and crevices in between. The sky goes on forever and Jason holds his head high, the faint breeze tickling his snout.  

Freedom. This is what it tastes like, feels like, even with another soul weighing him down. Is it really so bad, he wonders as his gaze wanders to the east. Tim is out there somewhere, about as far from the roost as he can be if Jason is judging the distance right.  

What is he doing? 

He finds himself walking in that direction before he even realizes it and stops, huffing so hard he almost releases flames. Frustrated as he is, he doesn’t want this place to burn. The late summer sun is hot overhead and the grasses are starting to turn brown. A wildfire would turn all of this into a sickening black landscape.  

Instead, Jason flops heavily to the ground, glaring intently into the distance. Wandering seemed like a good idea earlier, but somehow, he’s been heading closer to his soulmate without knowing it and it pisses him off now that he’s figured it out.  

He doesn’t want a soulmate. A soulmate is for someone like Diana, the powerful female quite possibly the epitome of their race. She deserves the perfect partner, not him. He’s broken. Weak. Pathetic.  

Only his immense pride keeps him from running and not stopping.  

Tim doesn’t know they’re soulmates, or so Cass said. That’s good. That works in his favor. It means he can observe his human and judge him. There has to be something that proves Tim is only human and susceptible to the flaws of his race. Something that means he can repudiate the fledgling bond between them. 

Decision made, Jason rises, ignoring the twinges in his forelegs, and continues eastward. 

There are times that living on what is essentially a ranch really offends Tim’s city sensibilities. He hasn’t been out here long enough for them to have entirely disappeared and this particular chore drives him nuts. Replacing fence posts is boring, tedious, and makes him seriously question the wisdom of the arrangement Bruce has with the neighboring rancher because nowhere in Tim’s job description does it say he has to repair fences for cattle his boss doesn’t even own when said cows decide the grass is greener on the Sanctuary side of the fence.  

To add insult to injury, there’s a tickle in the back of Tim’s throat that he is growing more and more suspicious of having nothing to do with thirst and everything to do with a cold. Hydration he’s got down pat; before venturing out here, he packed his large cooler full of water for him and Ace and has a flat of water bottles in the back of the cab for emergencies. 

“Stupid cows,” Tim mutters, wiping his brow yet again under the brim of his cowboy hat. The late morning sun is hot, and Ace has abandoned him in favor of the shade cast by the truck, tongue lolling out as he pants quietly.  

Said cows give him a disinterested look, standing there on the wrong side of the fence. He’ll need to move them, probably with some carrot bribes as Ace is better at herding Kit than he is cattle. 

Why is this his life now? 

Tim glares at the downed fence. The posts are tangled in the wire, the angle such that it looks like all the cattle did was lean against them and then down they went. This is the third time in as many months that he’s had to repair this stretch of fence and he has about had it.  

“I wish I could feed you all to the dragons and be done with it.”  

A snort of clear contempt comes from behind him and Tim whirls around, almost losing his hat in the process.  

Jason stands on the other side of the truck, his proud neck rising over the cab, glaring disdainfully at the grazing cattle. 

Tim’s heart leaps into his throat. He hasn’t seen the majestic black dragon for several days now, not since his minor triumph with the plasma cutter. Steph has been doing nothing but grumping about ungrateful assholes since he ran from the roost, while Cass has been oddly quiet about Jason’s actions. Tim isn’t sure what to think but he does know that something passed between the two of them the moment that last shackle fell and their eyes met. His very soul vibrated from the intensity of it.  

“Hi, Jason!” he says somewhat lamely, running a sweat soaked bandana over his brow. The hat only does so much. “What brings you all the way out here?” 

The dragon doesn’t answer, but snorts again at the cows.  

“Cows are the bane of my existence and if you want to eat one, maybe it’ll keep them from wandering where they don’t belong.” Petty? Yes, but there are other predators out here besides the dragons, so he can probably get away with letting the big black dragon take one out; he’s seen tracks of wolves and bears, and a mountain lion lives near the stream too, several miles down from where Jason staked his claim, in a cave in the bluffs.  

Jason perks up with interest and Tim grins. “Yeah, I know I’m technically supposed to tell you no, that beef cattle are off limits and that you’re only supposed to hunt in the Sanctuary... But those guys aren’t supposed to be on this side of the fence.”  

The dragon slinks slowly around the truck, teal gaze intent on the grazing cows who are still blissfully unaware of his presence.  

“If you pick one off, try to drive them toward the fence here. Saves me some carrots.”  

He really shouldn’t be encouraging this, but he’s pretty sure Bruce will forgive him if it means Jason is starting to come out of his shell.  

From his studies, Tim knows how a dragon prefers to hunt. Much like an eagle or a falcon, they swoop down and use their claws to catch hold of their prey, snapping the spine to kill it cleanly. Jason doesn’t have the use of a wing though, so he’s taking a different approach, which reminds Tim of how a lion would hunt. The black dragon swings wide, crouching low in the tall grass. There’s a faint shimmer around him, one that has Tim puzzled until he realizes Jason is using his magic to blend in with his environment.

He wishes he could record this and study it later, but the last thing he wants to do is offend Jason by not asking first. So he leans against the front of his truck and watches, mentally taking notes to add into his file on Jason later. It’ll be a nice way to spend his evening, besides sucking on throat lozenges. 

The kill, when it comes, is sloppier than Tim expects, but before he can analyze it fully, he’s got over a dozen cows to wrangle back through the gaping hole in the fence. Overall, he can’t help but be pleased because this might be the first time the damned cattle have experienced a predator in this area. They keep running, distancing themselves between the fence and the dragon happily gorging himself on one of their brethren. 

Tim gets to work and digs the last hole for the new fence posts he hauled out here. While he figures out the mess that is the fence, he ponders what he saw and can only come to one conclusion. 

Jason hasn’t had to hunt for a very long time. In captivity, he’d either been fed flesh from animals that were already dead, or some poor creature was chained into the cage with him for the dragon to ravage, possibly for the viewing pleasure of others. Upon his arrival here, Diana had privately informed Tim that Jason is underweight, his last act of defiance against his captors a hunger strike that lasted for months. Stephanie took it upon herself to hunt not only for herself and Kit, but also for Jason during his first few weeks here at Sanctuary as he would not touch anything Tim brought to the roost. 

He can’t blame him, not at all. 

By the time the stretch of fence is repaired, Tim’s sore throat has moved on from being a tickle to feeling downright raw. Tea has never been on his list of favorite things to drink, but right now, he wants some, preferably with honey. Has to be the heat, he tells himself as he grimaces his way through drinking another bottle of lukewarm water. It’s oppressive, but now has some humidity to it, which causes him to cast his gaze about, looking for clouds. It’s getting to that part of the summer where storms like to come out of nowhere in the late afternoon and evening, often lasting for a good part of the night. 

There’s a dark smudge on the western horizon, towering over the distant mountains. That doesn’t look good. Glancing over at Jason, Tim finds the dragon has mostly finished his meal and is sprawled out, basking in the sun as he tends to do.

Tim approaches with a steady tread, not trying to be silent or otherwise mask his movements. A slitted eye opens when he’s about a dozen feet away and he stops. “I appreciate your help with the cattle earlier. Saved me a lot of time, so thanks.” He smiles and bobs his head. “Do you need anything before I head home? Looks like we have some weather brewing, so you may want to think about returning to the roost for the night.” 

Jason’s broad head rises, and he scents the air, twisting his neck around to look behind him at the same stretch of horizon Tim did just minutes before. He then returns his gaze to Tim and snorts. 

“I’ve no idea what that’s supposed to mean unless you use your words,” Tim replies dryly, clearing his throat as he does. “I’m no weather mage, just a healer. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong, but if I’m right, then at least you’ll have shelter. Storms can be nasty out here and they can move fast, so I’ll be on my way.” He nods again and gives a little wave, then returns to the truck where Ace is already sitting in the cab, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth. 

Tim rubs his ears fondly. “You’re such a dope.”

Ace barks as he starts the truck, his stub of a tail wagging hard. He likes car rides a little too much. 

As they drive away from the newly repaired fence, Tim spots Jason through the rearview mirror, the dragon’s long strides eating the small distance between them until he’s running parallel to the truck, about a half dozen or so meters away. 

Tim smiles again, a warm feeling rising from within that has nothing to do with the low fever he suspects will be plaguing him soon.

Jason wasn’t sure what to expect when he found Tim glaring balefully at a broken fence and a dozen cows earlier, but he can’t exactly say the experience is a bad one. The opportunity to hunt, even just a stupid cow, sent a thrill through his veins, one that he’s still riding high from. His first hunt since he arrived at Sanctuary.

His first hunt since gaining his freedom. 

He’s fairly certain it made his meal that much sweeter. 

Loping alongside the truck, Jason sneaks glances at the driver. There’s a flush to Tim’s face that hasn’t faded in the air-conditioned cab and he hadn’t missed the raspy note to the human’s voice earlier when he spoke. If he were to guess, Tim is sick or getting there, pushing on to complete his tasks in spite of it. He finds himself wishing he’d thought to scent him before and gives himself a mental shake for it.

Just because Tim let him eat one of the cows doesn’t mean a thing. Him helping the human to drive the cows back to where they belong doesn’t mean anything either.

Neither does his flanking position alongside the truck. They just happen to be going in the same direction as the roost lies north of the ranch house and he doesn’t need to veer off toward it yet. Now that Jason is aware of the storm, his senses are screaming at him to move it, to run faster and seek shelter. But the clouds don’t look any more ominous than they did when he first spotted them, so he wonders if his body is in some state of hyperawareness because this is the first storm he’s experienced since he arrived here. 

Stephanie and Cass will know and if he asks nicely, one of them will teach him the signs to look for. It really has been too long since he was able to just be a dragon. 

By the time they reach the point where their paths diverge, the wind has picked up and the sky is a deep shade of purple that looks much like Steph’s thick hide. Tim waves as Jason lopes off to the north, the gesture so simple, and yet, oddly warming as it means the human has been aware of his presence the entire time. 

He snorts and runs faster, his ankles hurting all the while. The steady pace hasn’t helped them any and Jason becomes aware of the fact that he’s spent way too long in captivity because his lungs are complaining about the workout as well. Great, now he has to contend with the fact that he’s out of shape. 

Fuck it, maybe he will ask Tim for some help with healing those burns. The sooner his feet are back to normal, the sooner he can work on his stamina.

Fat rain drops are starting to pelt the ground with stinging little smacks when Jason arrives at the roost. A particularly strong gust of wind causes his broken wing to flare out, sending waves of pain down his side as he tries to force the weak muscles and bone to his will. Making it to the lee of the cliff helps and Jason lets out a low moan as he catches his breath. 

“That hurt,” he groans, leaning against the rock more than he’d like as he sets his sight on the cave entrance. 

He barely has his head in when he’s forced to backpedal fast. Stephanie comes charging out, swinging her head from side to side, her blue eyes wild. For an instant, Jason thinks she’s attempting to keep him from the cave, something that’s entirely within her right as a nesting female. 

“Kit!” she roars, her voice quickly stolen by the wind. “Where are you?” 

It’s like she doesn’t even see Jason as she pounds right past him, taking to the skies even as the wind immediately knocks her off course. 

Jason’s heart pounds faster, this time for an all new reason. “What’s going on?” he asks Cass, who is hot on Stephanie’s tail. 

“Kit is missing. We’ve searched the entire cave, but she’s nowhere to be found.”

Chapter Text

It takes Jason a second to process Cass’s words, then he’s moving, exhaustion vanishing as he follows Cass along the edge of the bluff. She can’t fly, not in these winds, which is a shame as she’s technically the strongest of them at the moment. Already, Stephanie is being forced back to the ground and fighting vainly against it. 

“Where are we looking?” he asks. 

“She likes high places,” Cass replies, her sightless eyes casting about in that special way of hers. “And water.” 

Jason’s head whips toward the box canyon he claimed as his own. The walls are high and narrow while the stream below burbles along, but in weather like this, if it’s raining somewhere upstream, the flashflood potential is high. 

Cass apparently has the same thought and starts running. Her gait may be shorter than his, but she’s clearly faster as she outpaces him in no time flat. 

Fucking hell, he really needs to swallow his damned pride and talk to Tim. This is ridiculous. His heavy meal earlier isn’t helping matters either. 

Stephanie lands heavily between him and Cass, joining them in their race across the open expanse of grassland. The females run with their wings tucked close against their bodies and heads down, presenting as small a target as possible while the wind blows against them. 

Jason isn’t quite so lucky and his broken wing flaps heavily as the wind gusts. It hurts, but rather than slowing him down, he steels himself and uses it to drive him onward. Pain is familiar, pain is fuel that he’s used to keep him going for more years than he cares to remember. His pride drives him on too, irked that he can only follow and offer help when it’s needed, unfamiliar with the full extent of the lands the Sanctuary covers.

They reach the tree line and Jason is quietly grateful for the cover it provides. He knows these woods, but so does Steph and she takes the lead, Cass right behind her. 

“Do you see anything yet?” Steph shouts.

“No!” Cass replies. “But she’s close. I feel her.” 

That’s better than the alternative and they press on, stopping only upon reaching the top of the cliff Jason spent much of his time on until this morning. 

The wind blows strongly again as the land opens up, eerie echoes bouncing off the narrow walls of the canyon below. Jason looks down and grimaces. The water is already much higher than it normally is, swollen and brown from dirt and other debris upstream. 

“She’s down there!” Cass screams even as Jason’s ears pick up the cry of a young hatchling. 

He spots Kit in the water, trapped on a flat rock that he knows is normally a few feet above the waterline, but is now only inches away from being fully immersed. 

Shit. 

Stephanie roars and tries to take flight again, but the updraft and steep walls keep her from diving into the canyon. 

“It’s too narrow!” Jason shouts, casting about for something, anything , they can use to fish Kit out of the raging waters below. The branches on the trees around here at long, but even if he uproots an entire trunk, it wouldn’t reach far enough to do any good. 

“What about your magic?” Steph screams as she tries again to reach her hatchling. 

Fuck, what about it? He’s spent so much time sulking over the last several days that he hasn’t even tried to get a handle on the new powers he now commands. Jason roars, venting his anger and frustration toward the skies above because he can’t do a gods-be-damned thing. 

“Jason is more likely to collapse the canyon walls if he tries something now,” Cass says for him, covering his inexperienced ass. “What if I climb down there? I can fit, right?” 

Stephanie lands on the cliff again. “Can you even see where you’d be going?” 

Jason is glad Steph said it and he didn’t because he sure as hell thought the same thing. 

“I would need a guide,” Cass admits, closing her sightless eyes. “Kit shines brightly, but everything else... All the energy lines are jumbled and hard to make out.”

That makes sense, Jason decides, looking back down into the narrow canyon. A storm of this magnitude has to be wreaking havoc on the energy fields surrounding this area. What was once calm and serene is now wild and chaotic. Oddly enough, it makes him glad he can’t tap into them because who knew what would happen if an amatuer like him tried?

“What about Tim?” Jason asks before he even realizes the words coming out of his mouth. 

Both of the females heads snap around to look at him. Steph’s blue gaze bores into his. “I won’t leave my hatchling and Cass can’t see where to go unless one of us is with her.” 

That leaves him. 

“Fine.” He looks down into the canyon again and silently wills Kit to hang on just a little longer. “I’ll be back.” 

As he starts running again, Jason hopes he doesn’t come to regret this. Asking a human for help? What is his world coming to?

Thunder rumbles low in the distance as Tim closes the last window in the house. He hates to do it as the air has cooled down considerably, but he also doesn’t want to wake up to a complete and utter mess if the wind changes directions and blows rain inside. The thermometer doesn’t lie; he’s got a low-grade fever already so whatever he can do to make life easier on himself for the next few days is A+ in his book. 

For now though, the bulk of the storm seems to be passing to the south according to the radar, but that can change in an instant. Tim grabs his hot mug, already full of his preferred cold and flu medicine and doctored with honey, and goes outside to sit on the patio and watch the sky. Lightning streaks across the distant clouds, illuminating thunderheads in bright flashes of white.

It’s not fully dark yet, won’t be for a while, so he might as well enjoy the show. One of the perks of the ranch house is the wraparound patio where he can sit at any time and just watch the world go by. Mostly, because the northwestern side of the house is sheltered in the lee of a low hill, a fact that had Tim confused until he experienced his first winter out here. 

He sits down and puts his feet up on the railing. Ace darts out into the fenced yard and does his business, then sniffs around. The rain hasn’t started yet, just some fat drops here and there. Tim leans back and closes his eyes, letting the wind and scent of rain wash over him. This helps him relax more than his quick shower did and he carefully sips his medicinal drink, the taste of lemon and honey sliding over his tongue and soothing his sore throat. 

There are a bunch of things he should be doing right now, first and foremost writing up an email to send to Bruce about what happened with Jason today. Status reports are what his boss calls them, which makes Tim think of detectives and all their casefiles.

He should probably leave out that bit about the cow he let Jason eat. How to word that though? Because that event is rather central to everything that occurred. 

The thunder grows louder, and the wind picks up. Nothing has changed to the south, so Tim rises and walks along the patio to the west, sipping more of his cold and flu medicine. 

“Well, shit,” he says out loud, taking in the ominous purple clouds racing toward him. Beside him, Ace barks in agreement. “Looks like we’re heading down to the basement, boy.” 

With clouds like that, the threat of tornados is high and as far as he is from town, there’s no tornado siren to warn him. He’s actually rather glad of that fact because those suckers are loud, and his head hurts just thinking about them. 

Or maybe that’s the change in barometric pressure. Either way, it’s time to go inside. 

Rounding the side of the house, Tim stops short. 

Jason stands in his front yard, head down and sides heaving as he catches his breath, his broken wing hanging limp by his side. 

Instinctively, Tim finishes the last of his drink, already knowing that whatever has brought the large male here, it isn’t good. “Jason. What’s wrong?” he asks, running over to the edge of the patio closest to the dragon. 

For a moment, Tim doesn’t think Jason will answer, but then he raises his head and looks Tim straight in the eye, much like he did after the last shackle was removed. The same shiver of awareness tingles down Tim’s spine and unless his imagination is playing tricks on him, the same thing happens to Jason. 

The dragon takes another deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Kit,” he says clearly, the rumble of his voice a counterpoint to the storm brewing above. 

Tim sucks in a breath of his own. “What about her?” 

“She disappeared a couple hours ago. We found her, but she’s trapped in that box canyon where I like to perch. It’s too narrow for any of us to reach her and the water is rising fast.” 

These are more words than Tim has ever heard Jason speak, even in his own tongue, and that bowls him over as much as the news that his precious little kitten is trapped out there in the storm where her family can’t reach her. 

But he can. 

He’s already moving, running into the house to shove his feet into boots he’d removed a short time ago, glad that he thought to put socks on in anticipation of spending the night in the basement. The aches and pain from his cold disappear as adrenaline surges through his veins. 

Jason’s voice follows after him. “Steph keeps trying to dive down there, but the winds are too strong. Not sure she’d be able to climb out even if she did make it.” 

Tim returns to the door where he laces up his boots. “That area you claimed recently is a favorite of Kit’s. Whenever Ace and I go hiking around there, she always comes with and I have to practically fish her out of the stream. Why did she go out there on her own?” 

“I don’t know.” Jason sounds utterly disgusted. 

“This isn’t your fault,” Tim says, grabbing his hat and putting it on. Beside him, Ace wags his tail, ready to follow out into the night, but he closes the door on the Rottie, forcing him to stay in the house. The dog will only be in the way of the three already agitated dragons. 

In the garage, Tim grabs a length of rope from its place on the wall, as well as the harness he’s used for rock-climbing (always in a gym, never in the great outdoors, a fact that he’s suddenly all too well aware of), then snags his rainslicker to put on over his sleep pants and thin t-shirt. He wishes he had time to change clothes, but time is of the essence. A knife is already in his truck and as the engine rumbles to life, the rain starts to fall in earnest.

 Jason runs alongside the truck as Tim drives down one of the dirt roads crisscrossing the Sanctuary, an inky shadow in the gloom. His breathing is still labored and Tim’s lungs twinge in sympathy. The big male probably didn’t have a chance to rest when he made it back to the roost and after his meal earlier; sleep and a chance to digest are the two things he needs most right now. And that wing… it appears to be more mangled than it was before. 

Still, Jason pushes on, much like Tim, ignoring his own discomforts in favor of doing what needs to be done. 

It’s all they can do.

Jason is utterly exhausted when he returns to the cliff with Tim, the human laden down with his rope, a large sheet of plastic covering him, and what Jason feels is a larger knife than he actually needs. Humans with knives never fail to send him into a state of hyperawareness, even if the return of his magics means they can no longer pierce his skin. 

The females are still there, Stephanie back in the air again as she roars down to Kit, her words and presence meant to be soothing even if every inch of her body is taught from stress and tension. 

Tim runs right to the edge of the cliff and looks down, nodding once before darting back and tying one end of his rope around the base of a tree and knotting it in some complicated series of twists. 

“I can rappel down there,” he’s saying to Cass as he straps himself into some complicated looking device that doesn’t fit well over the plastic sheet. Tim yanks it off and tries again, this time with more success. “But once I have Kit secure, I’ll need you guys to pull us back up.” 

“We can do that,” Jason growls, catching hold of the sheet before it blows away. It may be useful later, especially since anyone with a nose can scent the illness that surrounds the human. Even Cass is eyeing Tim askance, which makes Jason wonder what she can see in his aura. 

Tim catches his eye and once more, that frisson of awareness sends shivers across his back. It’s the soul bond, Jason knows it is, and he breaks the gaze before it has another chance to grow stronger. 

“I trust you,” Tim says, taking hold of the rope and clipping it into the contraption he’s strapped himself into. The hunting knife is secured on his thigh. 

Then, in the blink of an eye, his human disappears over the edge of the cliff.

Rappelling down the side of a rocky cliff in the pouring rain with the wind buffeting him from all sides is an experience Tim very much wants to forget. In his haste, he forgot to grab the gloves he keeps in the truck and he really wishes he’d spared a moment to at least put on his jeans because light cotton sleep pants are not exactly the ideal fabric when it comes to protection against said rock. 

He focuses on his descent, managing to cover several feet in seconds while having to carefully maneuver over other places. Each delay frustrates him because it just means the water has that much more of a chance to rise. 

Above him, Stephanie roars again and Tim shudders, wishing she’d be quiet. The noise from the wind and the rushing water were already overstimulating his sensitive ears and the ache right behind his eyes grows steadily. 

Tim pauses against the cliff to catch his breath and looks down to get his bearings. The brown water below is moving fast, the current swirling around hidden debris beneath the surface. He’s still on target, just a little bit above where Kit paces on her shrinking rock. He’ll have to swim in order to reach her, a feat his feverish body is not looking forward to.

There’s only a few feet between him and the water, so he decides to just go for it and adjusts his rope accordingly. 

The water is jarringly cold when he lands and the current instantly sweeps him away and under. It’s dark and he loses all sense of up and down, left and right, but the rope is still there, his line back to the surface. He grabs hold of it and breaks through, gasping for air as he gathers his wits. 

Definitely not doing that again. 

Tim catches sight of Kit, who must have finally spotted him because she’s crouched on the edge of her rock closest to him, roaring pitifully. Her normally luminous skin is dull and gray in fear.

Right. Focus. He’s got this. 

Adjusting his rope again to give him the slack he needs to swim, he lets it go. The current pulls him along, but he swims perpendicular to it with long clean strokes that would do his old high school swim coach proud.

He still almost misses the rock, catching hold of the far end and scrambling for purchase as the water tries to sweep him away. 

Kit’s already crying, mewling sorrowfully as she tries to wrap herself around him before Tim even has a chance to drag himself out of the water. 

“Hush, little one,” he says, shoving her back so he can crawl onto the rock. The knees on his pajamas don’t stand a chance and shivers overtake his body as soon as the air hits his body. “It’s okay. We’re here. We’re all here.” 

As soon as Tim rises to his knees, Kit rushes him again, crawling into his lap much like Ace tries to when he takes it into his head to act like the lap-dog he’s about sixty pounds too heavy to be. She cries some more, and he runs a hand down her spine while grasping the base of her neck firmly, much like Steph does when asserting her authority.

“It’ll be okay, Kit. Just calm down and let me get this rope around you.” He knows the dragons above can hear him just fine over the wind and the water, which is great because he’s not sure how much longer his voice will last under these conditions. Each time he swallows, it feels as though he’s got a lump to force down.

Tim tugs at the rope and it gives a couple more feet before it goes taut. 

Crap. That’s nowhere near the amount he needs to properly harness Kit to him. What to do, what to do? 

A wave washes over the surface of the rock, answering Tim’s question for him. They can’t stay here. The water’s rising and in just a few short minutes, they’ll both be swept away. 

He settles Kit back down onto the rock and stands, unclipping the climbing harness from his body. “Kit, you’re not going to like this, but I need you to be a good girl and put this on. It’ll be a hell of a lot easier if you’re wearing it.”

Kit gives him those wide doe eyes of hers and whimpers. It’s clear she doesn’t understand what he’s doing, but she knows him, trusts him. Tim has been there since the moment she hatched, a constant in her life as much as her own mother and Cass.

The harness is barely strapped around her and secured when Stephanie roars again, this time with some urgency. Cass and Jason join in. 

Tim looks up and all breath leaves his body as he catches sight of the wall of water racing down the narrow canyon.   

He yanks hard on the rope and wraps his hands and feet into the slack as best he can, holding on to Kit for dear life. “Get us outta here!” he barely has a chance to shout before the world disappears again in a swirl of water.

Jason swears his heart stops beating when the floodwaters wash Tim and Kit off the rock and into the murky depths. Above him, Stephanie screams and makes another aborted dive into the canyon, this time crashing into the opposite wall and sending rock tumbling into the waters below. 

“Stop that!” Cass roars at Steph. “You could kill them both!” 

Snapping out of it, Jason realizes the rope is taut, which means Tim and Kit must still be at the other end of it, right? Right? 

It’s a challenge with his large talons, but he manages to catch hold of the slender rope between his claws and clasp it tightly, hauling back on it even though it means he has to step away from the cliff. He wants to see, needs to see, who is on the other end. 

The weight is much more than just Kit, he can tell that immediately, and his heart soars. 

Another careful tug and he’s back under the trees. There has to be an easier way to do this. 

But Steph is roaring from the other side of the canyon, jubilation in her voice. “Tim’s got her, Jason! He still has Kit! Keep pulling!”

Jason grumbles as he maneuvers the rope and tugs, trying to mimic the hand-over-hand motions Tim used earlier. “Isn’t it the other way around? Kit’s in the harness, not him.” 

“It doesn’t matter,” Cass tells him from her perch on the edge of the cliff. “They are both safe, or will be when they reach the top.” 

Never before has Jason ever wished to have hands like a human. Opposable thumbs would be fantastic, especially since the strain from all the running he did today decides now is a fantastic time to catch up with him. Now is not the time for exhaustion and he growls, yanking hard on the rope. 

“Careful!” Stephanie shouts. “They’re bouncing all over the place!” 

“I don’t see you helping!” 

The female snarls back and Jason snaps his teeth at her, his own snarl even louder as he asserts himself over the dominant female of this rag-tag little flight of misfit dragons. So what if that’s her hatchling on the other end? It was his soulmate that dived in after her. 

Fuck.  

Jason roars like he never has before as the power of the soul bond comes to life, his acknowledgement of Tim as his soulmate the only barrier standing between him and the power of not one, but two souls. His own considerable magic is now doubled through the strength of Tim’s soul, and with it comes the control that Tim has over his own magic. Control that Jason so very desperately needs. 

The air crackles around him and Cass leaps away from the cliff’s edge, taking to the air to escape the magic flowing down the rope. Jason isn’t entirely sure what he’s doing or how, but he can feel Tim almost as though he were standing right there beside him, a warm and solid presence guiding him along. 

Distantly, he hears Steph calling his name, shouting at him, but Jason’s attention is fixed on the rope, the physical connection between him and Tim. Tendrils of air now guide the passage of Tim and Kit up the face of the cliff, protecting them from any jostling as the rope moves on its own, controlled by Jason’s will. 

And then, slowly, Tim rises over the edge with Kit held tight in his arms. Both are tangled in the rope, but as soon as their feet hit solid ground, it falls away. 

Tim’s blue eyes are glassy, and Jason knows the fever that’s plagued his human since the afternoon now has him firmly in its grip. He can feel it in his own bones, sapping his strength. Or maybe that’s his own exhaustion telling him it’s time to finally do something about it. 

The females return to the earth and Kit races to her mother, her mewls and cries growing louder now that she has someone who will offer her sympathy. Stephanie nuzzles her offspring, but her attention is fixed on Jason as he approaches Tim.

“What was that?” Tim manages to ask, raising his face against the rain that’s still falling around them.

“My magic. Your magic. Our magic,” Jason replies, kneeling before his human and raising his good wing.

Tim blinks and tries to shake the confusion all but radiating off him as he staggers forward under the proffered shelter. “But how?” 

“We are one,” Jason replies simply, curling around Tim who is now shivering in the cool air the storm and the onset of night has brought to the world. They are as one now, there’s no going back. The weight of that realization rests heavily on his shoulders. 

“But…” Tim all but falls to the ground and leans into him, his touch soothing in more ways than one, which Jason really doesn’t want to think about right now. What’s done is done. 

His human blinks hard and coughs, then does it again. The sound is painful to Jason’s ears and he really needs to get this bond figured out because Tim is the healer, not him. 

“Sleep, Tim. We’ve got a lot to talk about, but now isn’t the time. Or the place.” He looks pointedly at the females that cautiously approach and he lowers his wing, shielding Tim from their sight. 

Kit, the little shit, ignores his warning growl and wriggles her way beneath his wing where Jason feels her settle in beside Tim and promptly falls asleep. 

“What under the sun just happened?” Steph asks, looking to Cass when Jason ignores her in favor of tucking his head under his wing. He’s exhausted and while this isn’t the ideal place to slumber, they’re far enough back from the cliff’s edge and under enough trees that the rain and wind isn’t horrible. 

“Soul magic,” Cass replies, a note of awe in her voice. “So white and so pure. So powerful.” 

“Wait just a damned second. Are you telling me that Jason and Tim are soulmates? Since when?”

Chapter Text

Jason awakes with the sun and the quiet chatter of birds from the branches overhead. His first instinct is to stretch because damn does his body ache, but Tim’s labored breathing hauls him up short as memories of last evening rush back. 

Kit missing. The canyon. The wall of water swallowing her and Tim. And… the soul bond that now thrums in contentment throughout every part of his being. 

Tim. Tim, who happens to be coughing quietly from under Jason’s wing.

Son of a bitch. Jason remembers the other part of yesterday now and raises his wing, letting cool air wash over the not quite slumbering bodies still tucked against his side. Kit is in her usual boneless sprawl, but his human soulmate is curled in an upright little ball, face flush from fever. He coughs again, opening watery eyes that gleam blearily at Jason. 

“Hi,” he rasps out. “I think I need to go home.” 

“I think so too,” Jason replies, raising his head to scent the morning air. It’s still early, the sky slowly brightening as the sun comes closer to the horizon. “You able to drive?”

Tim gives the question some serious thought before answering. “No.”

“Alright. We’ll figure this out.”

A gentle snout presses against the underside of Jason’s jaw. “I can carry him,” Cass speaks up. “My back isn’t much broader than a horse.” 

Jason bites back the comment that if his soulmate is going to ride anyone, it’ll be him because he knows Cass is right. At least for now. “Fine. Where’s that rope?” 

It takes some doing, especially since Tim can barely stand, let alone walk, but they eventually manage to get him tied to Cass’s slender back. When she wakes up from all the commotion, Kit thinks the entire event is great fun and wants to help, so Steph distracts her by taking her to the truck to look for Tim’s keys. He can’t remember if he locked the house the night before, so they’ll need them in order to get him inside.

By the time they get it all figured out, the sun has risen. Tim is small and pale against Cass’s black hide. There are glimmers of gold as she walks gracefully over the uneven terrain. 

“I don’t think he’s up for a run,” she says when they exit the woods. Before them lies an open expanse of rolling grasslands, damp and dewy from the rains. The air feels fresher, the faint haze of dust and chaff gone for now. “I don’t think you’re up for a run either.” 

Jason takes in Tim’s still flushed face. “We’ll take it slow. Just follow me.” 

It pains him more than he cares to admit, but Cass is right. He isn’t in the best condition for a run either. Maybe it’s feedback through the now wide-open soul bond, but he feels alternatively dull and achy, then feverishly bright. About the only constant is the sharp pain of his broken wing. 

“You’re in pain,” Cass comments after a time. 

“The wind did a number on my wing last night. If it wasn’t completely fucked up before, it sure as hell is now.” Not wanting to think about the possible repercussions of that, Jason looks over his shoulder at the two of them trailing along behind him. “You still awake, Tim?”

A muffled garble is his human’s response. 

“We may need to go a little faster,” Cass says. “It’s still early, but I don’t think too much sun will do him any good.” 

As they pick up the pace to a faster walk, Jason voices a concern that’s been nagging him since last night. “I don’t know a thing about how to treat human illnesses. Do you?” He hopes she does. Cass has been with Tim the longest, so this can’t be the first time he’s gotten sick.

“A little,” she replies. “Tim tends to get sick at least twice a year, once in the summer and again in the winter. He keeps medicine in the house, but I’m not sure where or how it’s administered.” 

“What else?” 

“He’s prone to extreme fever when he overworks himself.”

“No shit.” Jason can’t help the dry tone; which Cass picks up on because she snickers.

“He told me about a thermometer he keeps in his bathing room, one that reads the internal temperature of the human body. Normal is around 98 degrees in something he called Fahrenheit.” 

“What’s the danger range?” Jason knew from the idle gossip of his captors that a high fever in a human wasn’t a good thing, even though he’d never seen the effects for himself. If Tim’s behavior is any indication, he’s got a high one. 

“103 or more.” 

“I kinda wish I was a healer.” 

“Me too.”

It feels like forever by the time they reach the building Tim calls home. Inside, Ace starts barking and Jason growls low in warning, which the dog ignores. Cass does the same and the dog subsides.

“He knows me,” she replies, sensing the annoyed look Jason shoots her. 

Stephanie and Kit arrive as Jason slices through the rope holding Tim in place. His human seems to be in some half aware fugue that has him fighting them more than helping. Carefully, he guides him to the ground where Tim promptly falls over into the grass. Kit curls up beside him, mewling softly. She knows something isn’t right.

“How are we doing this?” Steph asks, eyeing their human caretaker and the dwelling he resides in. “The only one of us small enough to fit inside that door is Kit and she’s too young to understand what she needs to do.” 

“Assuming we even know what the hell we’re doing.” Jason nudges Tim with his snout, which just makes him roll over limply. “I don’t think he’s awake anymore.” The thought sends panic through every inch of his being. What are they going to do? 

“Jason.” Cass’s quiet voice has him looking up. “The stories about soulmates between a dragon and another magical race… A dragon is supposedly able to take their mate’s form.” 

Steph snorts. “I suppose it makes mating easier. I have a hard time seeing either of you –” 

“Shut. Up .” The skin around his snout flushes red from embarrassment. “Keep in mind I just started speaking to Tim yesterday. I don’t think either of us are anywhere near ready to actually fuck.” 

Cass huffs impatiently. “You’re missing my point. Jason, if you can take a human form, you can help Tim.” 

“I could fly to town,” Steph adds earnestly. “But I don’t know how long it’ll take to get someone to come out here. Assuming they don’t all run screaming because some habits die hard.” 

“There’s medicine inside that can help Tim. We just need to get it and you’re the only one who can. Kit is simply too young.” 

Jason closes his eyes, tuning out the females and their arguments. He knows deep down that unless he does something now, his time with having a soulmate will probably go down as the shortest one in history. Tim’s illness, he can feel it creeping over him, the fever too high for his body to cope. If the events of last night hadn’t happened, Tim would be safely ensconced in those walls, resting and taking care of himself properly. 

But no, he spent the entire night outdoors sleeping under the wing of a dragon with the wind and the rain beating around them because Jason was too tired to return him to where he needed to be (damn if that wasn’t the best sleep he’d had in years though, wrapped around the one who is meant for him). 

This is his fault. This is all his fault. Despite the guilt wrenching through him, the thought of taking the form of a human is still enough to make him sick to his stomach. 

“I – I can’t ,” he whines, head drooping low to the ground where Tim lies. “I – I just…” 

“Jason,” Steph says his name, low and somber. “All three of us have absolutely no reason to ever want to even speak to a human again. Not after what they’ve done to us. You see the world in black and white, them versus us, but let me tell you, there are also dragons out there who are just as cruel as man.” 

The words sting, just as the female no doubt meant them to. Steph has never discussed her experience that led her to Sanctuary in full, but Jason knows without a doubt that for her to have laid even one fertile egg, there had to have been a male dragon there to take part. 

“For everything that Tim has done for me,” Stephanie continues. “Everything he’s done for Kit. For Cass. For you … I’d be willing to shed this skin and take on his without a shred of hesitation, even if it meant I could never change back.” 

Jason wails in his throat and carefully nudges Tim’s body again. His eyes flicker open briefly, pale slits of blue peering through dark lashes before closing once more. 

Can he do this? Can he really take a human form? Humans, whose touch have always heralded pain and suffering until he met this man laying at his feet. He can do this. He has to. Besides, the magic works both ways, it’s not as though he’ll be stuck in this form forever. 

Decision made, the magic surges through him. 

“I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing,” Jason announces ten minutes later as he stares down at Tim, resting on the first flat and relatively soft place he could find after carrying him into the house. Ace is whining on the floor beside his master. 

Steph and Cass have been sworn to secrecy about the first time he tried to lift Tim and dropped him. Damn humans and their stupid legs and being off balance. What’s so great about walking upright anyway? 

“Check the kitchen,” Cass says encouragingly through the open front door. Both she and Steph are crouched in front of the patio, watching everything. “I think he keeps his medicine there.” 

The shitshow begins. 

Jason is already more than bewildered by the change in his senses, so dull and lacking compared to his true form. Still, he won’t lie, the lack of wings means one less thing hurting on his own body. 

“The kitchen is where he makes food, right?” 

“Did you live under a rock before you got taken?” Steph comments, snorting in amusement. 

“Excuse you, but I didn’t exactly learn the finer details of human domestication while I was behind bars.” But he learned all about the sordid side though. Some of the things his guards would get up to, just for the thrill of doing it in front of a dragon who wanted nothing more than to burn them alive… Well, Jason supposes eventually he may be able to put some of that to use, even if the thought currently makes him want to gag. 

“Can you open some of the windows?” Cass asks, shuffling around. “It might be too hot inside the house for Tim.” 

“Will you pick a fucking thing?” Jason snarls, running a hand through the mop of hair that now sits atop his head. The gesture is instinctive, which has him thinking human men have been doing this in response to human females for far too long. 

A shrill sound breaks through the house and Jason whips his head around trying to find it. 

“That’s Tim’s phone!” Steph shouts. “That’s how he speaks to humans that are far away, like Bruce or his mom.” 

“I don’t even know what it looks like!” The persistent noise helps Jason pinpoint the device and much to his surprise, he realizes he does in fact know what a phone is. His captors used them all the time. 

He even knows how to answer it. 

Picking it up (and wondering what the thin cord is that connects it to the wall), Jason almost delicately swipes a finger across the screen. “Whoever this is, I need some help,” he says flatly. 

“Whoever this is?” a woman’s voice repeats. “Who are you and where is my son?” 

“It’s Tim’s mom!” Stephanie calls out, her hearing picking up every word. “She’ll help you! She has to!” 

The woman makes a noise of frustration, having clearly heard the dragon shouting. “What is going on?” 

“Tim’s sick and we don’t know what to do,” Jason says quickly. “Really sick.” 

“Is this… one of the dragons?” the woman asks, a note of wonder in her voice. 

“Yeah, I’m Jason. The loudmouth is Stephanie, but you can ignore her. I’m in the house and I have no idea what any of this shit is or what I’m even supposed to do.” 

“Jason? How did you get in the house? It’s big, but not enough to accommodate a dragon.” 

“I’ve taken a human form,” he says slowly, still not exactly a fan of the fact that he now has hands (even though he really wanted them last night). “Look, just tell me what I need to do.”

“You’ve taken a human form?” The woman takes a deep breath, startled. “That’s… That means… Tell me Tim’s symptoms,” she finishes in a rush, changing the topic. 

This he can do. Talking about the magic involved just to get this body is not something he wants to discuss. At all. Possibly even never, but when Tim is back to normal, he supposes he’ll have to. “High fever, labored breathing, coughing. I think it started sometime yesterday afternoon.”

“Do you know if he’s taken anything?”

“I assume so after we parted ways yesterday. He was drinking something when I fetched him last night.”

“And he hasn’t taken anything since?” 

“No.” Shame washes over Jason again. This is his fault. He should have taken Tim back here where he could take care of himself. “The hatchling got herself stuck in the box canyon and none of us could get down there to rescue her. Tim did and they almost got swept away by the flood.”

The woman’s voice catches and Jason realizes this is Tim’s mother he’s speaking to. He just told Tim’s mother that her son almost died last night. 

“I want that full story, but it can wait. With all the stress he was under, I’m not surprised he’s this sick now. He’s done this to himself before.” 

“Seriously?” Jason can’t help but ask. 

“Yes. Do you know how to use the video chat feature on this phone?” 

“This is the first time I’ve had thumbs, lady. How the hell would I know that?” 

Jason’s crash course in all things human begins immediately. Tim’s mother, her name is Janet apparently, has the same blue eyes as her son, which he finds rather disturbing once he gets the video chat going, even if seeing the person he’s speaking with helps calm his nerves. 

Janet guides him through how to find and prepare the medicine Tim needs, a hot drink that as soon as Jason smells it, he recognizes it from the night before. She also instructs him on how to use the thermometer she helped him find in Tim’s bathing room. 

“What does it say?” she all but orders when the device makes a little beep. 

“Hell if I know.” Jason holds it up to the phone so Janet can see it. 

“You can’t read?” 

“I read Draconic,” he snaps. “It has a different number system. What’s it say?” 

“103.6.” 

Jason remembers what Cass said earlier. “That’s too high, right?”

“Yes. You need to cool him down. His meds are too hot to drink, but you can start with a glass of water. When was the last time he drank something?” 

“Last night before we fished him and Kit out of the canyon.” All the water he inhaled counts, right? 

Janet releases a barrage of colorful language. “If the three of you manage to kill my son from sheer stupidity, I swear to God…” 

“Swear all you want, just tell me what I need to do.” 

Filling a glass of water from the sink is easy enough. Getting Tim to sit up on the sofa to make him drink it is another story. Jason has to put the phone down on the table in order to manage it. 

“Tim. Tim, wake up. You need to drink this.”

After a few long, agonizing heartbeats, Tim’s eyes open again, pale and glistening. 

“There you are. C’mon. Drink this.” Jason holds up the glass and Tim’s lips part ever so slightly. Great, he’s got to help him here too. “I swear to the sun when you’re better, I’m gonna give you so much shit for this.”

More of the water ends up down the front of Tim’s shirt than in his mouth, but Jason counts it as a victory. The water and the now upright position forces some gut-wrenching coughs from the man that has Jason’s ribs spasm from phantom pain, no doubt from their soul bond. 

He helps Tim lay back down and snags one of the pillows to put under his head this time. 

“That doesn’t sound good,” he says to Janet after setting down the glass. 

“No, it doesn’t,” she agrees. “Once you get him settled, I’m calling Bruce to find out who the closest doctor is and see what we can do to get them to make a house call.” 

A stranger? Coming here? Jason growls at the thought and is pleased to discover his throat can still make that noise. 

“Oh, hush. Just put on a pair of pants when they get there, you’ll be fine.” 

“Lady, I don’t give a fuck about clothes. What’s next?”

Janet snorts and shakes her head, the gesture one he’s seen from Tim before. “A cool bath. Let’s hope you don’t drown him this time.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re a bitch?” 

“You wouldn’t be the first.” 

Tim is warm. Way too warm, but then he’s cold, utterly freezing which is at odds with how feverishly hot he just felt. He struggles, batting weakly at the hands holding him. 

“Cold,” he tries to say, but his tongue is thick and heavy in his mouth so he can’t quite form the word correctly. 

“I know, Tim, but this is the temperature your mom said would help bring your fever down.” 

Huh? What? Tim shifts and it slowly dawns on him that he’s in the bathtub as the water laps gently over his chest. It’s cold, too cold, but the body behind him is warm and he tries to curl into that, but then those damn hands gently force him to stretch out again. 

“I’m only in here to keep your ass from drowning. You tried hard enough last night and none of us want a repeat performance.” 

Last night was a dream, wasn’t it? Kit and the canyon. Jason. Tim’s mind is overwhelmed with feelings, emotions. The magic. The utter contentment he felt from falling asleep beside the majestic dragon, warm and sheltered beneath his wing. It’s rather similar to how he feels now and he tries to curl up again. 

“No, all that isn’t a dream. I shouldn’t have kept you out there all night. Shoulda brought you right back here. It’s my fault you’re like this.” 

The voice is sad, which makes Tim sad too. He reaches up and gently pats the man’s face. “I’m sick,” he announces, clearer than before. 

It makes the man laugh, quick and sharp. “No shit. Your brain is probably fried from the fever.” 

Tim doesn’t answer and just stares at the water, blinking every now and then when the man behind him shifts and the surface ripples from the movement. The ripples lap at the sides of the tub, which is utterly fascinating as the water moves up and down and up and down. The water stills and his attention drifts again, this time on two strong knees rising out of the water on either side of him, that he’s nestled between thighs that are much bigger than his. 

“Stop that,” the man behind him orders. “It’s…ticklish? Tickling me?” 

Hands that Tim apparently has been rubbing up and down those legs stop moving as it occurs to him that the voice belongs to the person sitting in the tub with him. He relaxes against the warm body and cocks his head back, trying to see who’s with him. 

He barely has a chance to take in the strong jaw and startling streak of white in the dark hair before he completely and utterly falls into stunningly familiar teal eyes. Eyes that belong to the ornery black dragon who’s been making his heart beat faster each time they share so much as a glance of late. 

“Jason,” Tim breathes, blinking hard, wanting to focus on the man behind him because this has to be the dream, not the other one. Jason is a dragon, not a human. 

“Tim,” the man replies, neither confirming nor denying whether the name Tim spoke is correct.

He can’t see anything beyond those blue-green depths. They’re not normal eyes, no. The pupil is off, slitted instead of round, and the color bleeds into what normally is white. “You have dragon eyes,” he pronounces. 

“Makes sense. I am a dragon.” 

This makes Tim snicker, then cough, which oww that hurts a lot. He coughs again and chokes on the very air he’s trying to breathe. The man helps him sit up more and rubs soothing circles over his back as he gasps and wheezes his way through the fit. If the first cough hurt, then all of them combined leave his ribs feeling as though he just did a round in the boxing ring with Kon. 

Tim breathes shallowly, head down and staring sightlessly into the water. A bare arm is clasped loosely around his waist and that strong chest is still pressed to the skin of his back. He’s so damned comfortable, even with the cool water tickling his toes. What he feels from Dream Jason is everything he’s ever wanted in a partner. Why can’t he have dreams like this when he’s not sick? At least then he can wake up and do something about it.  

He decides he wants a kiss before he wakes up. Dream Jason can give him that much even if the rest of his body is woefully uninterested in anything else.

Clasping the side of the tub, Tim cautiously rises to his knees and then grimaces because shit, that hurts. Why is his dream making him feel pain? What’s wrong with that? 

“What’re you doin’, Tim?” Dream Jason asks him, loosening his hold enough to allow him to move, but still there to catch him if he falls on his face. 

Tim stubbornly clings to the side of the tub as he spins himself around, water sloshing around him. Still no cough, which is awesome as far as he’s concerned. Slowly, he moves one hand from the ledge of smooth porcelain and grips Dream Jason’s shoulder, then repeats the motion with the other one. On his knees, he’s slightly taller than the mostly submerged man, not that it matters. 

All he has eyes for are his lips. 

“Tim?” Dream Jason asks, arms wrapping around Tim’s waist to keep him steady. 

“This is all a dream,” Tim states, voice sounding as though it’s been dragged over sandpaper and left out to dry in the sun. “As much as I might wish it, you’re not human. You’re too proud to ever be one.” 

Dream Jason opens his mouth to protest, but Tim leans in and steals a kiss, then does it again when those lips move against his. It’s too soft and gentle for how he imagines Jason would kiss, but as Tim draws away, the darkness is closing in around his vision again, so it doesn’t really matter. 

“Jason,” he whispers, and closes his eyes. It’s only a dream.

Chapter Text

The kiss flusters Jason more than he cares to admit, so when Janet calls back after he’s settled Tim in bed, he can’t help the sharp “What?” when he answers the phone.  

“Tired of being human already?” the woman snaps in return, then continues without waiting for an answer. “I got ahold of Bruce and told him about Tim’s condition. He made a call and the local doctor reached out to me. She’s on her way and should be there in about forty-five minutes.”  

Jason sighs as irritation replaces his frustration. “Great. That’s great. A healer for the healer.”  

Even Janet laughs at that. “I know, it is certainly ironic. If Tim was a little more aware and one of you guys had that talent, he’d be able to guide you. I think. Tim didn’t inherit that particular gift from me.”  

“He’s got your eyes,” Jason offers and instantly wishes he hadn’t because what the fuck? What is wrong with him? It was just a kiss. A kiss with this woman’s son and by the sun, he just wants to crawl under a rock and forget the last week ever happened.  

“That he does,” Janet agrees. “Probably about the only thing he got from me. Anyway, Dr. Thompkins will be there soon, and I have to leave in a few minutes to get to the airport and catch my flight. I should be there by mid-afternoon.”  

“Wait, what?” Jason holds the phone away from his ear to make sure he heard that right. “You’re coming here?”  

“Do you seriously think I’m going to leave Tim’s care to a bunch of dragons who have no idea what they’re doing? Even if one of them is his soulmate?”  

Jason’s breath catches. “How do you know that?” He hasn’t said a word and the females, annoying as they are, haven’t made any such comments where the phone could pick up their words.  

“Because there’s a reason why Tim’s family name is Drake,” Janet replies. “I’ll explain when I get there. And I’ll bring proof because I know my son. He won’t believe it otherwise.”  

With that, the call disconnects, leaving Jason with a strong urge to throw it across the room. Now he understands why Sionis did it all the time. “What the fuck is going on here?”  

At his feet, Ace whines.  

“Yeah, you’re no help.”  

Restless energy finds Jason unable to sit and watch his soulmate sleep for long, so he explores the house, poking and prodding at the various items that humans apparently need to live. Or maybe these are just the things Tim needs because what the hell does he know?  

Nothing, that’s what. He knows nothing about humans because he never wanted to learn. Now, here he is with fucking hands and he’s got no idea how to use them besides to answer a cellphone. Janet’s instructions on how to use the microwave and fill the tub in the bathing room earlier made him feel like he was Kit’s age again. Simple tasks for a human, ones that they can perform without much thought.  

Such as that kiss earlier. Jason growls and paces around the living room (why is it called that; doesn’t Tim live in the entire house?), his annoyance growing over the direction his mind keeps taking. He’s seen humans do it before, it’s one of their most common forms of affection and typically is a prelude to their mating rituals. Why the act of placing their mouths over each other’s gives them such pleasure has always confused him. Human teeth aren’t anywhere near as sharp as a dragon’s, but with the right force, they can still do some damage. Eventually, he’d settled on human’s being stupid creatures with ridiculous habits and left it at that.  

Until today.  

The intensity in Tim’s eyes in that moment before their lips met had Jason rearranging all his previous notions. On some deep, visceral level, he understands now.  

And he wants to do it again.  

Ace’s barking stirs Jason from his thoughts. The dog is out on the patio with Kit, while Cass suns herself in the yard. Stephanie has left to hunt, her and Cass coming to the consensus that Jason should not be left alone without at least one of them around to help. Not that they’ve been any help at all, but he knows better than to say that out loud.  

A truck is making its way up the dirt road leading to the house. Not Tim’s truck, that’s still parked out near the box canyon, but it looks similar, even with the different color.  

Jason leans on the railing, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches an older human female get out of the truck, retrieving some kind of bag as she does. The woman ignores the dragon gazing at her with sightless eyes and makes her way toward the house. On the patio, Kit and Ace still, watching her warily.  

“Are you Jason?” she asks, stopping at the foot of the patio steps.  

“I am. Are you Thompkins?”  

“Leslie Thompkins,” the doctor confirms with a nod. “Where’s Tim?”  

No small talk, just right to business. Jason appreciates that and straightens up. “In his room. This way.”  

He leads Thompkins through the house and into Tim’s room, taking a spot by the door where he can watch her and keep out of the way.  

Surprisingly, the first thing the healer does is open the window above Tim’s bed. “It’s still cool enough outside from the storm last night. These shouldn’t be shut with the fever he has.”  

“How did you do that?” he asks. “I had no idea those things even opened.” Or wait, didn’t Cass say something about that earlier?

Thompkins turns an assessing look on him. “You really aren’t human, are you?”  

“Just for the last few hours.”  

Rather than judging him like Janet clearly did, the healer nods slowly. “Let me take a look at Tim and get him situated, then I’ll walk you through a few things you should know.”  

Jason decides right then and there that he likes the no-nonsense approach of this person.  

Thompkins examines Tim and explains what it is that she’s doing and why. Tim’s high temperature is partially the result of dehydration and after she learns about what happened the night before, she announces the rattle in Tim’s lungs is likely due to inhaling some water when he and Kit got sucked under.

“How is the little one?” Thompkins asks, looping her stethoscope around her neck. She’d let Jason listen to Tim’s heartbeat and his breathing through it. The experience left him wishing he had his normal hearing so he could compare.

“She’s fine. Was hollering about food before you got here.” That feeling of liking the woman grows more because her concern over a dragon is just as obvious as Tim’s would be if his brain weren’t on fire at the moment.  

“I understand that Tim is your resident healer/caretaker?”  

“Yeah. We’ve been amused by the role reversal.”  

The healer chuckles, which makes the lines etched in her face lighten. “I’ll say. Okay, so Tim has an upper respiratory infection. He needs a medication that can only be purchased at a pharmacy, so I’m sending this information to Janet. She’ll pick it up on her way through town this afternoon.”  

“She know this already?”  

“Yes, but I’ll leave a message for her too, which she also asked me to do since she stated Tim’s current caretaker doesn’t drive. Doesn’t wear pants either.” She pointedly looks down, then back up.  

“This body is temporary,” Jason replies with a sniff. “Don’t like, don’t look.”  

“I’m curious to see what Janet has to say about that when she arrives. She had some opinions when I spoke with her on the way out here.” The doctor settles Tim back into bed. “Show me what medication you’ve given him. He needs something to loosen the junk in his lungs and lower his fever.”  

In the kitchen, Jason shows her the box and the doctor then rummages around one of the cabinets to see what else Tim has stored in there. She removes another box and explains how it works, as well as how the medicine he gave Tim earlier does too. At no point does Thompkins make him feel like an idiot.  

She returns to the bedroom long enough to rouse Tim enough to swallow a pill and give him some more water. “For the time being, I want to see him drinking at least one of these every two hours.” The healer gestures to the tall glass of water and straw on the table beside the bed. “Slowly, so that his system isn’t overwhelmed, but he needs it. After a few hours, you’ll probably have to help him in the bathroom.”

“Okay, but what does the tub have to do with that?”  

Thompkins blinks at him from behind her glasses. “I think it’s time to move on to those lessons about being human.”

She shows him a number of things, from opening and closing windows, to what a can opener is and how the device opens the tinned soup she removes from a cabinet in the kitchen. The microwave is used again to heat it, but only after the soup is poured into a glass bowl because under no circumstances should he ever put anything metal in the microwave. He learns what a toilet is and how it works, as well as the sink and the small brush Tim uses to clean his teeth (the one for his hair is different, and larger, making it easier to remember which is which).

What Jason appreciates most is that she explains the human number system to him and how it pertains to the phone.  

Back in the kitchen, Thompkins points to the digits she’d just written down. “This is my phone number, the direct one to my personal cellphone as I don’t want you to have to deal with my office. If Tim’s condition worsens before I come back out tomorrow morning, I want you to call me right away, no matter what Janet says. You can use Tim’s thumb on this button to unlock the phone and then tap on the picture that looks like this.” She demonstrates on her own phone, which, aside from being a different color, is the same as Tim’s.  

“What’s this for?” Jason asks, picking up the cord he removed from Tim’s phone earlier.  

“That’s the charger,” Thompkins replies. “If you plug it into the bottom like this, it charges the battery in the phone so you can use it more. Here’s the icon for the battery life, which gives you an idea for how long it has left.”  

Jason stores the information away and nods. “What else should I know?”  

At his feet, Ace whines and nudges his hand.

The healer gives the dog a look, which Jason returns blankly. “Did you feed him when you got here earlier?”

“Doesn’t he feed himself? He’s got fangs, four legs, and what looks like a tail. What else does he need?”  

Thompkins outright laughs and pats his cheek. “I do like you, Jason. Don’t ever be anyone other than yourself, okay?”  

“Okay?”

Janet, when she arrives later that afternoon, is not quite as much of a bitch as Jason first thought. No, she more closely resembles a tornado as the first thing she does upon entering the house is throw a pair of pants in his face.  

“You’ve got a very nice body, but I don’t need to see it all hanging out. Save it for when you and Tim are alone.”  

“What the fuck are these?” Jason tries to make sense of the fabric. It’s kind of stiff, but resembles what Tim wears all the time. Denim? Jeans?  

“If I have to show you how to use a zipper, there’ll be a problem. It goes in the front, by the way.” Janet breezes past him and heads down the hall to Tim’s room.

“Whatever, now that you’re here, it doesn’t matter anymore. I can shift back and be done with it,” he calls after her.

“Don’t you even think about it!” Janet’s head pops out of the bedroom to yell at him. “Put those on and get in here. We need to talk.”  

“You are more fucking obnoxious than Stephanie.” It’s annoying as hell, but he slips his legs into the jeans and tugs them up. They feel all kinds of strange and confining, and while he manages to figure out the zipper and not hurt himself, he can’t get the button to close, not with the sharp claws he still maintains in this form. Whatever, at least they’re on.  

Janet arches a brow when he trudges in. “Looks like I didn’t quite guess the size right. Sorry.”  

“Why am I still here?” Jason asks, automatically checking on Tim while trying to pretend Janet isn’t watching his every move.  

“Because you’re my son’s soulmate.”  

“Which you clearly don’t approve of.”

“You and I both know my approval means nothing.” Janet sets down her heavy purse and removes a white paper bag. “This is Tim’s medicine. There’s a pill he needs to swallow, so help me get him up.”  

“And you didn’t say that sooner, why?”  

Janet actually laughs at him, which reminds him even more of when Stephanie does the same damned thing. Are all females this obnoxious? Even Cass has her moments.  

Tim is still mostly limp and doesn’t like being roused, but he cracks open his eyes enough to glare blearily at Jason as he helps him sit up.  

“Gotta take your medicine, Tim. Open up before your mom does it for you.”  

The pill is huge in Jason’s opinion and he wonders how Tim is even supposed to swallow it, but Janet easily slips it into Tim’s barely open mouth and makes her son take a large sip of water to help it down. Unsurprisingly, Tim coughs and for a moment Jason thinks everything will come right back up, but Janet doesn’t flinch and helps him drink a little more, rubbing his back soothingly.  

“I bought some ginger ale while I was in town,” she says idly, eyes on her son as Jason helps him lay back down and adjusts the pillows. “As well as some herbal teas that should help relax his chest muscles. When was the last time he ate?”  

“Thompkins showed me how to make soup,” Jason replies cautiously, uncertain over how to proceed with this woman. He’s upgraded her from a tornado to a fucking hurricane. “He had about half a bowl a few hours ago.”  

Janet nods and brushes Tim’s sweat dampened hair away from his brow. “His color is better.”  

“Been keeping him hydrated. Fever is down to 102.7.”  

“Better than before, but still high.” Janet sighs and takes Tim’s hand, rubbing it lightly. “I have to admit, I’m not sure if he’ll want me here when he wakes up.”  

That surprises Jason. “Why the fuck not? You’re his mother.”  

“A mother who hasn’t seen her son in two years.”  

“I don’t even know if mine is still alive,” Jason states flatly. “Won’t stop me from looking when I’m able to.”  

“It’s… complicated.”

“Well, you’re the mother of my soulmate, which I suppose means I need to get to know you better too.” Jason longs to return to last week. Life was so much less complicated before those fucking shackles came off.  

“You don’t like people, do you?” Janet asks, finally turning her attention on him.

“Lady, you have no idea.” Jason shakes his own head. “Having hands and walking on two legs is one of the most repugnant things I can think of.”  

“And yet, here you are.”  

“Here I am,” Jason echoes. “Look, I’m still coming to terms with this whole soulmate thing. Tim doesn’t even know, not yet. He knows there’s something between us, but almost everything came to light during that shitshow of a rescue last night. He’s been too out of it to talk.”  

Janet nods slowly. “I see. That actually makes a lot of sense. I thought it had happened earlier and he just didn’t tell me. He doesn’t tell me a lot of things.”  

“Maybe if you were around more often, he would,” Jason states, going with his gut on this one. “The females here wax poetic over how awesome and amazing Tim is. About what a good heart he has and that he truly desires to help them, to help me, to help us , without anything in it for himself.”

“You do know Bruce pays him for what he does here, right? Pays him rather well.”

Jason didn’t actually, but it makes sense. Humans need jobs just like a mature dragon needs a hoard. He should get started on that, he’s a couple decades behind. Does Tim count? “I’ve been around my fair share of people who just want to use a dragon for their own financial gain. For their own status. Tim… Tim isn’t like that. I may not have liked him at all when I arrived here, but never once did I get the impression that he’s in it for just the money. He wants to be here.”  

“He has a hearing problem,” Janet says, eyes distant, lost in some memory. “Hypersensitivity. For some reason, I’d thought, considering his bloodline, that he’d be absolutely perfect. The ideal son.”  

This is the first time Jason has heard of this, but he does remember the few times one of them has roared around Tim and the pained expression on his face. “He fits right in here, then. A misfit amongst misfits.”  

Janet shoots a wry glance his way. “For someone who claims to despise humans, you are certainly attached to my son.”  

“I’m not turning my back on my soulmate,” Jason says decisively. “Took me a while to figure that out though, not gonna lie. He’s mine and I’m his. Whatever happens next, we’ll deal with it together.”  

What he said, it finally seems to be enough for Janet because she nods in slow approval. “I’m glad that my son is no longer alone,” she states. “Even if you’re not able to read a civilized language.”  

“Fuck you.”

Chapter Text

When Tim wakes up, really wakes up and not just batting at whoever is trying to force a straw down his throat to drink water he can barely stomach, he’s half convinced he’s dreaming again because that can’t be his mother sitting beside his bed in the armchair from the living room, reading something with the light on his nightstand angled her way. Ace is curled up at the foot of his bed, sleeping peacefully. 

“Mom?” he tries to ask and winces over just how sore his throat still is. Ace’s head bobs up and he lets out a low whine. 

Janet lowers the tablet and adjusts her reading glasses. When did she start wearing those? “Hello, Tim. Nice to see you’re awake finally.”

Tim blinks hard, still unsure if he’s not just seeing things. “Why are you here?” 

“Because you’re sick. Very sick, actually.” Janet picks up a glass from the nightstand and holds it out. “Ginger ale, not water, although I did water it down with some ice earlier to cut the sweetness.” 

It goes down so much easier than the water did, and Tim takes more than one eager swallow. Even flat, the ginger ale feels better over the rawness of his throat and soothes his queasy stomach. “I can take care of myself,” he says, ignoring how shaky his hands are with even this small of a glass.  

Janet smiles, the one that says she knows something he doesn’t and is enjoying that fact immensely. “Is that so? Tell me then, how did you get to bed after saving that baby dragon the other night?” 

The other night? “That was last night.” 

“No, it was the night before.”

“Where’s my phone?” Tim feels a strong urge to check the date, perhaps even reboot it to make sure his mom hasn’t messed with the settings while he was sleeping.

“I’ll do you one better.” Janet hands him a white bag with a prescription slip on the front, along with her tablet, which she’s apparently been using to place her morning trades. 

Okay, so he’s definitely lost a day somewhere. 

Rather than continue with her mind games, Janet cuts him some slack. “Your dragons saved your life. They adore you, you know.” 

“Three of them, perhaps. The fourth one hardly acknowledges my existence.” 

“You mean Jason?” 

Tim sits up a little more, wishing his mother would just be straight with him. “You’ve met Jason?” 

“He’s the one who told me how sick you were.” Janet takes back her tablet and closes the lid on its case.

Something is wrong here and it’s starting to annoy him that he can’t figure out what. “Mom, you just said it yourself. I’ve been very sick apparently, so how about you cut me some slack? I thought you were going on that dig in the Yucatán, but now you’re out in the middle of nowhere with me instead?”

He kind of wishes he’d fixed the air conditioner now. 

Rather than answer him right away, Janet leans over and retrieves a small manila envelope from the quilted tote bag she regularly uses when there’s no one around to impress. “That’s not my place to say. However, in light of everything, there’s something you need to know.” 

A leaden feeling hits Tim hard and his weariness returns. Ace picks up on it and worms his way up the bed to put his head in Tim’s lap, whining softly. Instinctively, his hand falls to rub behind his dog’s ears. “I’m not sure if I’m awake enough for this.” 

“Drink some more ginger ale. I’ve waited all night for you to wake up and Jason will return soon, so we don’t have much time.” 

“What does Jason have to do with anything? The most he’ll do is burn the house down if you so much as glare at him wrong.” 

“Have you ever wondered where your magic comes from?” Janet asks, ignoring Tim’s question.

That’s not a tact he expects, so Tim pauses to regroup and uses the time to take another sip from the small glass. “Yes. The one time I asked, you said it came from Dad’s side of the family, but never elaborated beyond that.” 

Humans mages could trace their bloodlines back for centuries, but the talent for magic did occur spontaneously at times, thus creating its own legacy. He’s even heard stories that some families can claim inhuman blood mixing with their own.

Janet hands him the envelope. “I know you, Tim. You’ll listen to the story I’m about to tell, but you won’t believe it. Not without proof. I’m tempted to just tell you to read those first and then ask me questions after.” 

Tim narrows his eyes. “Mom? Am I adopted or something?”

This makes Janet laugh and Tim’s heart soars because he can’t even remember the last time he saw her do that. It makes his mom look a decade younger, even with the sandy blonde hair he knows is carefully dyed every three months to hide her graying roots.

“Oh, Tim. No, you’re not. I carried you beneath my heart for seven and a half months. Felt every kick you made and cursed each time you decided to aim one at my bladder.” 

Tim doesn’t know what to make of this, so he finishes his ginger ale then sets the empty glass on his nightstand. “What are these then?” 

“For lack of a better term, you could say they’re love letters.” Janet smiles faintly at that. “Jack wrote them to me when I was pregnant with you.” 

His father. A man Tim has no memories of whatsoever because he died before he was even born. He clutches the envelope a little tighter. “These are really from Dad?”

Janet nods. “I’m starting to wish I’d shared these with you sooner. I thought, mistakenly I might add, that if I raised you the way I wanted, then you wouldn’t ever be involved with the magical world. That it wouldn’t take you away from me the way it did Jack.”

Tim swallows, ignoring the pain in his throat. “How exactly did Dad die?” 

“You know that already.” Janet leans over and brushes a strand of hair from his forehead. “A ritual that went horribly wrong and killed everyone within a mile radius. What you don’t know is that when I found out, the shock sent me into preterm labor and I almost lost you too.” 

“Mom, why are you telling me this now?” 

“Because your life has drastically changed over the last few days and I think the contents of those letters will help you understand.” Janet caresses the envelope fondly, if a bit sadly. “I think Jack may have been prescient at times because those letters arrived exactly when I needed them most. In them, he told me a secret about his family, one that has been closely guarded for four generations.”

Tim waits, letting his mom gather her composure. This is the first time he’s ever seen her this misty eyed and it makes him want to reach across and take her hand. When he does, she clasps it tightly, so pale and small compared to his rough, tanned grip. 

“Your great-great-grandfather was the son of a dragon who found his soulmate in a human woman and together, they created the beginning of the Drake line.”

Whatever it was he expects her to say, this isn’t it. “That’s impossible,” Tim pronounces. “The magic involved to perform a shape-changing spell is immense. At most, there’s maybe one or two mages in the entire world who can.” 

“More like two or three.” 

“Huh?” 

“Jason. He changed forms, from dragon to human. For you.”

Tim’s hand falls from his mother’s grasp. “But… But Jason hates humans. He tolerates me at best because of what I did for him. I got those shackles off and…” 

“He told me about that last night before he returned to the roost with the others.” Janet settles back into her chair. “It was Jason who saved your life, Tim. I haven’t the foggiest idea about how much power is needed to fuel the shape-changing spell, but he didn’t seem any worse for the wear of it. Is he always that grumpy?”

Sighing, Tim falls back against the pile of pillows on his bed. The mental whiplash is taking its toll on his poor fevered brain, leaving him unable to process everything. Anything. More sleep sounds fantastic right about now and he closes his eyes without even realizing it. “Yeah, he is. He hates humans.”

He feels a soft touch at his brow and blinks wearily to see Janet brushing his bangs aside, the back of her hand pressing gently against his forehead.

“I think it’s safe to say there’s at least one human out there that he doesn’t hate,” she states. “You’re still running a fever, even though it’s nowhere near where it was when I got here. Get some more sleep, Tim. Dr. Thompkins will be here in a few hours to check in on you. We’ll talk more then.”

But there’s still something Tim can’t quite comprehend, needs to understand before he lets himself succumb to the insistent pull of slumber. “Mom, before… Are you saying I’m part dragon?”

“Yes, dear. You are.”

“Oh. That’s kinda cool.”

Janet laughs quietly, the soft expression her face sticking with Tim as his eyes close once more. “Yes, my son. It certainly is.”

When Tim wakes up again a few hours later, he’s greeted with the stern visage of Dr. Thompkins and his mother being shooed out of his bedroom. It’s a facade he sees right through, knowing there isn’t a kinder person within a few hundred miles of this remote part of the country. She checks him over and listens to his heart and lungs after taking his temperature, which has gone down significantly compared to yesterday, even if it hasn’t quite broken yet. 

As she packs her things, the old woman pauses and gives him a stern look. “Tim, I’m not entirely sure what is going on here, but I’d like to know something.”

Tim finishes pulling his nightshirt back over his head and nods. “What?”

“Since when do dragons change shapes?”

Biting his lip, Tim does his best to keep his voice level, a feat considering how thick his throat still feels. “That’s a question I hope to have an answer to very soon. I suspect that Jason is a much more powerful mage than any of us possibly believed.”

Dr. Thompkins nods briskly. “Well, there’s always tomorrow then. Have a good day, Tim. I’m glad you’re on the mend.”

She leaves and Tim takes the moment to himself to shove back the covers so that he can make his wobbly way to the bathroom. Distantly, he remembers doing this same thing yesterday, strong hands guiding him along. The effort takes more out of him than he wants to admit, but he manages. Leaning against the counter, he eyes the shower, wondering if he can stay upright long enough.

The desire to wash his grimy hair wins out and Tim thinks he does a pretty good job of not falling on his ass, the cool tile of the small showerstall supporting him when he leans against the side. He coughs hard several times, the steam helping to loosen the crap that had made its home in his chest. Spitting it up is never pretty, but he feels a lot better when it’s gone, swirling down the drain.

For a time, he just stands there, his entire world consisting of the water pouring around him, the sound of the spray taking over everything, a buzzing static that has never failed to calm his overly sensitive ears. In this cocoon of water, nothing can touch him.

It’s an escape he needs because as soon as he steps out, the real world will come crashing back in. He’s the descendent of a dragon. Jason is a shapeshifter and doesn’t hate him anymore. The letters from his dad. And his mom… What is she even doing here? Nothing makes sense and Tim can come up with all the theories he wants, but none of that does any good when the answers are outside that glass door.

Leaving his little haven is hard, but Tim forces himself to turn off the water. Answers will be forthcoming. And sleep. More sleep sounds fantastic right now. He’s familiar enough with high fevers to know this is probably the last round of utter exhaustion he’ll feel. As unexpected as it is to have his mom here with him, it’s kind of nice to have someone taking care of him. 

Tim steps out of the shower and grabs his towel, burying his face in the fluffy depths. They’re relatively new and haven’t had a chance yet to lose that soft freshness. Knowing his mom, she’s used the time he’s been in here to change his bedding and when he opens the bathroom door, towel securely wrapped around his waist, he discovers he’s right as he distinctly remembers the comforter was wadded up at the end of the bed. Now, it’s all nice and tucked in, the edges crisp in a way he will always associate with his mom. Ace lays across the foot of it, his stub of a tail wagging hard as he spots his master.

What throws him for a loop is the complete stranger sitting in the chair beside his bed. The ruggedly handsome man scowls darkly at the children’s book in his hands, turning it this way and that in what would be a hilarious manner if it weren’t for the fact that he’s starting to smoke. Literally, smoke is streaming from his nostrils and that more than anything tells Tim who this person is.

Jason, in his human form. 

“Um,” Tim starts, more than a little bewildered because he feels like he’s seen this guy before. “Jason?”

The dragon drops the book into his lap and glares, teal eyes flashing in a way that Tim is very familiar with. “Your mom is a bitch,” he pronounces flatly.

“Yeah, she can be.” There’s no point in denying the obvious. “What did she do?”

“Told me to sit in here with you while she tries to get some sleep. Gave me this and told me to...to… color?”

Tim carefully picks his way across the room and sits heavily on his freshly made bed, resting a hand on Ace to scratch behind his ears. What the hell is going on here? The sheer and utter normalcy of it all is giving him a very surreal sensation, especially since this is Jason, a particularly ornery dragon who has somehow managed to pull off one of the most difficult spells in all of creation. 

“Can I see that?” he asks, and Jason hands it to him. Rather than having normal human nails, his fingers are tipped with sharp, black claws like his true form. Turning the book over, Tim finds it’s a children’s coloring book, one that teaches the alphabet. Confused, he looks up. “I feel like I’m missing something.”

“Your mom thinks I’m an idiot because I can’t read your language.”

“When would you have had the chance to learn?” Tim replies, shaking his head. The world wobbles a bit and he coughs, raising his hand at the last second to cover his mouth.

“My point exactly.” Jason reaches over to the nightstand and hands him a steaming mug. “You’re supposed to drink that, then try to eat something because you need to take some fucking huge pill for the infection in your airways.”

Tim doesn’t argue and sips at the sweetened cold and flu medicine, taking the opportunity to stare over the brim. Two things immediately become apparent. First, Jason is wearing a pair of jeans that don’t fit very well. Or maybe they fit a little too well because the denim hangs low over a trim waist and holy shit, that button isn’t closed at all… 

And second, he knows those teal eyes. Knows them all too well because they’ve been haunting his dreams since even before he came down with the fever and made things worse by rappelling down the side of a cliff during a thunderstorm and getting caught in a flash flood. Another memory replaces that one, seemingly more recent and in the bathtub… 

“That wasn’t a dream, was it?” Tim asks, already feeling the flush creep up his cheeks again. “The bathtub.” 

“No, it wasn’t. And that’s something I want to talk about, but not just yet.” Jason settles back in the chair and Tim swallows, enraptured by the muscular plains of skin on display. “I know you woke up for a bit earlier, but you were asleep again before I could get here. What did your mom tell you?”

It takes a moment for Tim’s still feverish brain to dredge up the memory and when it does, he kind of wishes he hadn’t because what the hell? “That she’s been keeping a massive secret from me for my entire life and that you’re a powerful enough mage to change forms.”

“Nothing else?” Jason’s gaze is oddly intent. His eyes have no white sclera, the teal iris taking over the entirety just as it does in his dragon form.

“Just that my dad left her with some letters explaining everything. They’re in here somewhere.” Assuming his mom didn’t take them back, but a quick look around the room reveals the folder is on his dresser.

“She didn’t say anything about our bond?”

“Bond?” A few puzzle pieces suddenly fall into place and Tim lowers his mug. “Jason, is that what happened when those shackles came off? Did I do something?”

Jason is shaking his head, black hair shining in the early morning light. “More like the gods did.” The dragon-turned-human reaches out and takes Tim’s hand, slowly turning it, inspecting it as though it’s the most fascinating thing in the world. “We’re soulmates, Tim. We are now one.”

The words echo something Tim vaguely remembers from the other night and he glances over at the letters. Letters written by the father he never knew, telling a story that probably would have made quite the difference in his life if Janet had shared them sooner. There’s a story there, one that he hopes to drag out of her if she stays around long enough. 

“Mom says I’m a descendent of a dragon,” Tim offers in response, unsure exactly of what he’s doing. 

“Steph and Cass have always suspected as much. It would explain why we’re more at ease around you than other humans.” 

“Jason, I don’t… What do you want from me? You can’t have wanted this.” 

The dragon’s grip tightens momentarily. “No, I didn’t. It’s why I ran when it happened. Out of everyone in the world, my soulmate is human?” Jason scoffs and shakes his head. “Fuck that.” 

“What changed your mind?” 

“Watching you get swallowed by that wall of water. Don’t get me wrong, I was afraid for Kit, but you? You’re mine .” Jason’s eyes flash at that and Tim’s heart beats harder. “You are my soulmate and I’ll be damned if anyone takes you from me.” 

“It’s nice to feel wanted for a change,” Tim tries to joke and Jason snorts. “I’ve spent so much of my life alone.”

“Yeah, I got quite the earful about that from your mom last night. She was rather talkative while we watched you sleep. Felt guilty, I think.” 

“Probably because of those.” Tim gestures toward the dresser with his free hand. “They’re from my dad. He died not long before I was born.” 

“She showed me. Didn’t mean anything since I can’t read them.”

“You only read Draconic, right?” 

Jason’s lips quirk in a half smile that give Tim the distinct impression he’s missing a joke. “Yeah, but it’s becoming pretty clear that I need to learn to read your language too.” 

“I can teach you,” Tim offers. “If you want. I’m sure I can find a language app that’ll help. That’ll be better than a coloring book.” 

“Sure.” Jason rubs the back of Tim’s hand. “Before you do though… What do you think about all this?” 

Tim sighs and squeezes Jason’s hand before letting go. Everything feels heavy again. Tired. “To be honest, it’s overwhelming and I really just want to go back to sleep. But I can say with absolute certainty that I’m happy you no longer hate me.”

Jason outright laughs at that and Tim’s heart leaps again because it’s one of the most beautiful things he’s ever seen. “I definitely don’t hate you anymore. Not sure I ever really did, which is a first.” 

“I just don’t know you,” Tim finishes and to his surprise, Jason nods in agreement. 

“Same, and while I’ve been hearing a lot about you from everyone who has a fucking mouth these last couple of days, I really want to learn all that stuff myself. Form my own conclusions. 

“So we take things slow then? One day at a time?” 

Jason nods again. “I’d like that. I need time to just… be me.”

“After everything you’ve been through, I think you’re more than entitled to.” Tim taps down the slight regret at his words. The fact that it might be weeks or even months before he’s able to kiss Jason again feels like a lifetime. But this isn’t about him, it’s about Jason, who is clearly uncomfortable in his human form even if he’s putting on a brave face about it.

“I do have one question for you,” Jason states, his gaze turning intent once more.

“Anything.”

“Why did you kiss me? You said something about wishing I was human and that this was a dream, but then you passed out on me again.”

Of course it has to be that one. Tim shifts around and looks down at the towel still wrapped around his waist for inspiration. It doesn’t help. Still, honesty is the best policy here, always has been when dealing with Jason. 

“I really did think it was a dream,” he says. “I remember being held, being warm, but mostly that someone big and strong was in there with me and why couldn’t I have dreams like this when I was awake. I felt safe, and, most importantly, I got the distinct impression that dream-you was everything I ever wanted in a partner. That’s why I kissed you.” A new thought comes to Tim and he looks up in wonder. “That was the soul bond, wasn’t it?”

Jason has a small smile on his face. “Yeah, I bet it was.”

Tim decides to keep on with the honesty policy here. “I’d like to kiss you again, someday.”

“Someday? You know I can feel everything you’re feeling now, right?” Jason smirks and Tim wants to throw one of his pillows at him. Of course he’s got a better handle on their bond. So unfair.

“Okay, I’d love to crawl into your lap and show you just what you make me feel, but I don’t think you’re ready for that. I can tell, sense, that you’re uncomfortable in your own skin. Besides, I know you’ve always associated a human’s touch with pain. That’s where most of our problems came from when you first arrived here and I don’t see a soul bond magically fixing that.”

Jason reaches for his hand again and Tim gladly weaves his fingers between Jason’s own. “It means a lot that you said that,” the dragon says. “I don’t have much experience to draw from and I have a feeling what I do know about human mating practices aren’t exactly the right ones. But I did like the kiss. So maybe, probably after your mother leaves, we can try that again? I can just see her walking in and critiquing me.”

Tim can too and he starts laughing because damn if that isn’t just like his mom. Then he starts coughing, hard, and Jason has to scramble to keep him upright and not face-plant onto the floor.

“I think I’m ready to go back to bed,” Tim announces once he’s breathing properly again, if somewhat shallowly. The muscles along his ribs ache from the strain.

“Good idea, but before you do, I need to feed you so you can take that pill.” Jason stands and Tim gets an eyeful of just how well those jeans fit.

“Do I even want to know what you’re capable of making?” Tim gets up and heads to the dresser for a fresh pair of boxers and a t-shirt.

“At the moment, canned soup. Thompkins showed me how to do that. Apparently, metal in the microwave is a bad thing.”

Tim huffs a small laugh. “It is. And there are other things you can put in there that will explode.”

“Really?” Jason asks, perking up like a little kid, and Tim knows what he’ll be queuing up later on his laptop.

“Really.”

Jason leaves him long enough to go make his soup and Tim changes. The effort leaves him utterly exhausted and he’s more than halfway asleep when the dragon returns with what looks like one of his smaller glass mixing bowls in one hand and a large spoon in the other. 

“You’re supposed to eat at least half of that,” he’s told and the dragon disappears again only to return a minute later with some ginger ale and a large pill.

If there’s one thing Tim misses about Gotham, it’s that whenever he’d get sick there, his mom would bring home pho for him, along with a liberal side dish of spicy chili paste to doctor the broth with. As far as he’s concerned, the bowl in front of him is the furthest thing from pho that it could possibly be and still be called soup. Still, he does his best, especially since Jason is watching every move he makes, but it isn’t long before he’s full.

“I can’t eat any more.” Tim hands the bowl to Jason, who swaps it for the ginger ale and the horse-pill that is his antibiotic.

“Do humans always eat so little?” Jason asks after Tim swallows the massive pill.

“Compared to dragons, yeah. But when I’m sick, my appetite just disappears. I’m usually pretty good about staying hydrated, but food? Forget it.”

“I’ll remember that. Cass says you usually get sick twice a year?”

“About that.” Tim takes a final sip of the ginger ale and gives the glass back to Jason. “I think I’m ready to go back to sleep.” 

Jason helps him settle in and kicks Ace off so he can adjust the sheets and refold the heavier blanket at the foot of the bed. It’s oddly endearing. 

“Will you be here when I wake up?” Tim asks, already nodding off. 

“Probably. Someone has to annoy your mom, so it may as well be me.”

“You’re having fun with that, aren’t you?” 

“More fun than I’ve had in years and I think she is too. She said to tell you that someone is coming out this afternoon to fix your air conditioner, whatever the fuck that is.”

Great, he’s going to be yelled at about that one. “Did she say how long she’s planning to stay?”

“Nope, but I know exactly how to piss her off if you want her to leave sooner.” There’s too much amusement in Jason’s voice.

“How?”

“Wander around with no pants on. It drives her fucking nuts.”

Tim blinks because wow, he wasn’t prepared for the barrage of mental images that statement just conjured up. “I’m pretty sure Mom won’t be the only one.”