Chapter Text
Raindrops hit the window where Kyle rested his head, and he almost felt guilt for the inevitable. Every droplet was another reason he should back out, go out into the streets and yell what no one wants him to tell. That the world is at war, that your kids aren’t safe to roam the roads. He was personally given intel on some terrorist attack in London, it was foreseen, so he really didn’t understand why they didn’t evacuate the entire fuckin’ city.
They’re trying to pretend like the world isn’t on the verge of being blown up by some atomic bomb, like everything’s fine and dandy when it’s not.
A muffled sound from his shoulder snapped him from his thought process, and he squinted, as if it’d help him focus on the words better. “Terror threat level is now critical. Possibly multiple attackers. Bombers or something worse.” Raven spoke over the radio on his shoulder, and he cursed lowly. No reason not to tell everyone to run, just risking innocent lives for a façade. “Do we have snipers in position?”
“Negative. Sergeant. Can’t unduly alarm the public.” Oh for crying out loud, this was just pathetic. “Terrorists know that too, sir?” A sarcastic response, really. Kyle stared out the window, looking at the peaceful road, only chaotic by charm. “Garrick, don’t turn London into a war zone. Clear?” Like it was his fuckin’ choice, yeah? “Crystal. Out.” They were basically abandoned, all in the word of not alarming the public.
They sure as hell will be alarmed when they get their heads blown off.
The CST beside him nudged his arm a bit, pulling his attention away from the streets. “We’ll handle it.” He comforted, and Kyle just nodded in response, even when the two other guys affirmed it. This was going to be bloody, even more so now that they were outnumbered.
A white van drove passed their parked car, and their interest was piqued. The weapons were at full view, fucker wasn’t even trying to hide it. The four got out of the car, almost getting run over by London traffic on the way, before slowly pursuing the van. They had orders not to engage, but how could they not?
On their way, a man got out of his car to warn the people in the van and Kyle tensed. Just how many were involved with this mess? “They’re here, brothers! They’re here! Go!” He yelled, before being put down by the other sergeant on their team. Kyle ran closer to the van, keeping an eye on the Al-Qatala fighters that jumped out of the back.
The van began speeding.
An explosion rang through the streets, the van exploded, and Kyle was pushed back by the air force. His ear twitched due their sensitivity taking it more harshly than others, useless fucking ears; he could barely hear anything.
A blessing in disguise, really. Because the second the ringing began to loosen up, his heart sank at the screaming.
He got off the floor, knees aching from the fall. A complain left his lips right before he saw a sergeant get shot in front of him. Kyle winced, debating whether to get on the ground and pull him away or shoot, but he had no choice.
One shot on his shoulder, and a grunt left his lips. Kyle picked up his gun, a sidearm, and shot at whoever was engaging. The bloodshed was dehumanizing, even as it burnt against his nostrils.
“Look at what they’ve done to our home.”
It was in flames. No shot of anyone in their houses getting out safely without a scratch. Kyle hunched down near a telephone booth, trying his best not to tear his eyes away from the gruesome scene. There were multiple civilians wounded, some already died sitting with blood seeping out of their stomachs. Sick. That’s all there was to describe it. Sickening.
Kyle ran into the bookshop building, he needed to secure some place for civilians to hide in in the meantime, after all. Through gritted teeth, he wiped the floor with the Al-Qatala fighters, his tail low and dirty with blood. Fucks sake.
“Bookshop building secured.” He confirmed, hunching down near a child who seemed lost. His instincts refused to let her stay here alone, not in this chaos.
Outside the window of the building, multiple car crashes ensued, glass and fire crackles being thrown into the shop. Kyle shushed and soothed the child, who was screaming in shock and horror. “Hey, hey. Don’t scream. It’ll be okay.” He whispered, watching the UK Police file in with civilians through the corner of his eye. “Stay here with the police, okay? Don’t run off.” And Kyle tore himself from her grasp, her screams continuing to echo in his mind.
There was no fucking reason not to alert the civilians.
“Possible hostage situation in the Tanto building. I repeat, possible hostages in the Tanto building.”
Kyle huffed, this couldn’t get any worse. He picked up an AK from a corpse and jumped out the broken window, rushing towards the Tanto building. Another burst of fire from a nearby alleyway—he was going to go deaf at this rate.
Rubble obstructed the opening into the building, and before he could completely lift it up, an AQ fighter came at him with a knife. It just lightly grazed his vest before he held his wrist. He’d like to say he managed to overpower him, but fire sprouted from his feet and engulfed him right in front of Kyle’s eyes.
“Pretty sight ain’t it?” A gruff voice from beside him startled him, and he put his hands up to the sight of a helicopter and various military members in fear of being shot. He didn’t know why; AQ wouldn’t have a werewolf— those were rare in the Middle East.
A man— a dragon—, one smelling more of cigar smoke than firewood, stepped forward. “I see you, be careful next time, yeah?” Kyle grunted in response, and the man helped him move the rubble completely out of the way. “Captain Price.” He confirmed his identity. “Sergeant Garrick.”
Price stared him down before nodding, “You’re with me.” He cocked his head towards the inside of the building, and Kyle followed, trying not to trip over the long tail that followed the captain.
The building was in ruins, the posters on the wall of people smiling almost seemed sinister in this time. “Creepy.” He muttered to himself.
A cry for help from the floor above them was heard, and his ears perked up. Kyle unintentionally sped up his steps, catching up to the captain as they stumbled up the stairs together. “Easy.” Price warned, forcing him to take note of his steps.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Oh, fuck.
There were seven hostages total. Six were tied up and their head was covered with cloth, one had a bomb wrapped around his torso. It ticked down the seconds before exploding, and Kyle knew they were fucked.
“Get it off me! Please! Get it off me!” The man screamed, his hands in the air as if scared to trigger the bomb by moving. Kyle rushed to his side, searching for a way to remove the bomb from him.
He should’ve paid attention when being taught how to defuse bombs correctly.
Price checked the timer— 5 seconds. “There’s no time.” He said, pushing Kyle away from the hostage. He watched him throw him off the second floor right before the bomb exploded mid-air, killing the hostage and damaging the building further.
“CAPTAIN!”
His vision cleared after a few seconds, the crackling of fire still loud in the building. Kyle turned to check on the other six hostages, they were still moving. He forced himself to sit up, even as his muscles protested every movement. His mind was reeling, was there really nothing they could’ve done?
What’s done is done.
“You broken?” Price asked him, staring into his eyes uncomfortably. His ears continued to ring, and although he could barely hear the words being shared, he shook his head. “I’m good.”
It was over, for now. Kyle watched the police and medical teams work on the injured and clearing out the rubble that built up during the destruction.
All he could think about was the fact that this could’ve easily been avoided. So fucking easily, if they had just increased their support systems instead of worrying about alarming the public. Use your brain and look at the damage.
“You’ve saved lives today, sergeant.” The captain stepped towards him, but he didn’t feel satisfied. Kyle felt upset with himself, with the system, with his colleagues. No one deserved this. That child didn’t deserve this. That man didn’t, either. “It shouldn’t have happened in the first place, sir.”
His ears stopped ringing at least, the damn earplugs they give him don’t work for sensitive ears like his.
“They sent us in half-assed, so everyone can just keep pretending we’re not at war. Let’s just take the bloody gloves off and fight. No point living in ignorance.”
Kyle only remembered that he was talking to a captain when he looked back at him, and his tense tail fell in-between his legs. “Sir.” He cleared his throat, embarrassment evident in his tone. He expected to be laughed at; no one working on the front lines should have these concerns, they were meant to follow orders and move on.
But he wasn’t.
“Go on.”
His chest rose and fell with frustration as he completely faced Price. “We don’t stand a chance in hell with these rules of engagement. I mean for crying out loud, my men were tracking that cell for weeks.”
“You had actionable intel on this?” The captain encouraged, crossing his arms and stepping closer to Kyle. “Quite a bit, sir.” Enough to make a city wide lockdown, that is.
Kyle ducked his head, the guilt returned.
“Keep your head up, sergeant. You’re with me from now on.” Price said after receiving a phone call, his wings fluttering behind him as he flew up to a rooftop for privacy.
He looked back up, just in time for a tug on his pants. Kyle turned around to see the little girl from earlier. She was accompanied with a police officer, they must not have found her parents yet. “Hey, love.” Kyle crouched down in front of her, a gentle smile on his face to comfort her in the terrifying time. He can’t fathom how it must be to be a little girl away from her family at this time.
She gave him a weak hug, which he reciprocated by placing his hands on her back lightly. She was so small.
How could they do this to someone like her?