AN: Written for the sfa_history battle for the prompt Declan MacRae, Henry Foss, Kate Freelander, Will Zimmerman. Cleaning up a crisis precipitated by an action by the Five a century ago. It's actually closer to a century and a half. 1911 just seemed so passé.
This is the sequel to Chasing the Dragon
Spoilers: None, really. Takes place some time during season two, probably after Veritas.
Disclaimer: I should be so lucky.
Rating: Kid-friendly
Characters: Declan MacRae, Kate Freelander, Will Zimmerman, Henry Foss, Helen Magnus, James Watson. Also, there's a dragon.
Summary: Declan gets a letter. And a headache. And a new pet.
Legacy (or, "Chasing The Dragon…Again")
"You know, I really didn't dress for this," Kate Freelander said, attempting to wipe some of the mud off her jeans.
Declan, who was covered from head to toe in slime, resisted the urge to glare at her. At least she'd managed to get down the hill without sliding through all manner of unpleasantly soaked plant life. Still, he was nothing if not determined, so he spat out the dirt he'd accidentally eaten and said: "Send the dry-cleaning bill to Helen Magnus."
"Oh, I plan to," Kate said. She looked at her hands, and then down at her clothes, as though trying to find a clean place to wipe them. "Maybe Henry and Will are having better luck."
Declan had his doubts.
It started with Declan getting a message in the mail.
Declan actually got a lot more than one message that morning. There had been several letters, a few interdepartmental memos, a couple of invoices and an ungodly number of emails, but this particular message stood out against the rest, even before he'd finished his tea and was truly awake.
His heart very nearly stopped when he recognized the handwriting on the envelope. He turned the yellowed paper over and over in his hands, almost afraid to open it. Trust James Watson to successfully have mail delivered after his own death. Although, Declan realized, it wasn't that successful, because this letter was clearly very old, for all the stamps and postmark were current.
Upon closer examination, he realized that there was another message, scrawled in an unknown hand, written in pencil on the back of the enveloped over the seal.
"Found this in the barn," Declan read out loud, as though he expected James to explain what was happening. "Fixed the postage. Hope it's not too late."
It rather was.
Will and Henry were not having better luck. Though they had somehow managed to stay significantly cleaner. Next time, Declan though, he was taking the low ground. Except there had better never be a next time, so the point was moot.
"Any luck?" Henry asked.
"Yes!" Kate said sarcastically. "We caught it. It's in my pocket. It's really happy to see you."
"May I see the note again?" Will asked, even though he'd read it about nine times on the train up to Edinburgh from London. Still, Declan couldn't see any reason why not, so he handed it over.
"Are you trying to conduct a séance?" Kate asked, when Will turned the page sideways and squinted at it.
"No," Will said, "I'm trying to read that squiggle there."
"It's not a squiggle," Kate said. "It's probably droppings."
Will moved the paper further away from his face and Kate laughed. Declan felt suddenly very, very British.
Henry leaned over Will's shoulder and sniffed delicately "Nah, I think you're good, man." He looked more closely. "Does that say 'bring whiskey'?"
Declan split the envelope open carefully, as thought it might fracture and turn to dust in his hands. It didn't, of course, the paper was old but it wasn't yet desiccated. He unfolded the letter, and saw that it was dated the summer of 1886, which would have been right after The Five took the Source Blood. It was addressed to Helen Magnus, but Declan could not contain his curiosity and started reading anyway.
Helen, it began. I am sure that, by now, John has quite given the game away and you have realized that we went to Inverness to look in on your dragon. We have managed to set it right, so you should not have anything to worry about. I should think you would want to come up here as soon as possible. I believe the beast to be an egg layer, and I think it is preparing to brood.
There were a few lines after that, mostly profuse apology. Declan could understand why James felt the need to do that by post rather than face to face. He found himself going back to the same line over and over again preparing to brood…
Because there hadn't been a report of any offspring, not in any of the journals or records Declan had ever found. And while he might overlook the occasional Selkie or forget the odd coelacanth, there was no way in Hell he was jaded enough to gloss over a dragon. He spent a few hours checking, just to be sure, and returned to his desk after a futile search and a late lunch. Sighing, he checked his watch and decided it was late enough in the afternoon that he could ring the west coast of North America without incurring too much wrath from whatever picked up the phone.
"That's what he was talking about!" Declan said. The others looked at him, but didn't say anything, so he kept talking. "James had this story he liked to tell to new employees about the time he and a friend discovered the historical enmity between dragons and faeries. I always thought he was having them on."
"What are you talking about?" Kate said.
"The dragon in James's story was addicted to whiskey," Declan said. "That's how he and Druitt caught it."
"And there are faeries because…?" Henry asked.
"That's how they found out the dragon was a fire breather."
It hung there for a moment while they stared at one another.
"This is best field trip ever," Kate said with a smile that reminded Declan uncomfortably of Helen Magnus.
It took some time to organize the expedition, which Declan found frustrating. Magnus insisted on sending her own people to help him, which he decided must mean that she was getting annoyed with them and wanted a few days of peace and quiet. Once Will, Henry and Kate arrived, they organized their gear, and boarded the train for Edinburgh. Declan shared a seat with Kate, who spent most of the trip with her headphones on and her eyes glued to the windows. He rather appreciated the quiet.
It didn't last, of course. By the time they got to Inverness, Declan was almost hoping they would find the dragon so that they'd be able to justify chartering a plane back home. The old farmstead, where the original dragon had been kept, was long abandoned, which was just as well since Inverness had grown out towards it, and keeping anything concealed there would have been a challenge, much less a dragon. After The War, Helen and James had consolidated all of their smaller holdings into regional support stations. The first dragon had died of old age in Oban, in 1953.
On the phone, Helen had theorized that the long lifespan of the dragon indicated an equally long egg maturation process. Her theory was based on the fact that even though she had never got James's letter, James had never mentioned it again. Helen assumed he merely took for granted that she'd forgiven him and taken care of the matter. Declan knew them both well enough not to actually make a reply to that statement. Instead, he was grateful he was on the phone rather than the teleconference, because he could only imagine what his face looked like.
If it had laid an egg, Declan hoped it wouldn't be under a new subdivision. He couldn't handle another primary school.
"I smell something," Henry said. "Something kinda gross."
"Does it smell like a dragon?" Will asked. Henry glared at him.
"Where?" Kate said, all business. Declan appreciated that.
"This way," Henry said, and they followed him through the trees.
After a few hundred metres, they came upon a small clearing. Strewn around haphazardly on the ground were several large pieces of what Declan realized immediately were eggshells. The sodding thing had gone and hatched.
"How long ago?" he said to Henry.
"Recently?" Henry guessed. "I mean, it smells fresh."
"Perfect," Kate said. "Let's find it before it finds a fairy and lights the forest on fire."
Ahead of them, there was a sudden burst of orange flame.
They split up. Henry and Will went north from the old farm, and Declan and Kate headed south. Declan wasn't exactly sure what they were looking for. It had been a very long time, after all, and he didn't know what a dragon egg looked like. Kate did not seem to be suffering the same hesitancy. She looked about on the ground as though she expected to see scorch marks or footprints.
Declan was more worried about the fact that he couldn't remember what James had said about the dragon's ability to fly.
"Let's go up the hill," Kate said. "We might be able to see better."
Declan looked at the gentle slope appraisingly. It seemed harmless enough.
The dragon sat in Declan's lap and purred like a kitten. Will could not stop staring at it, but Henry was at least focused on his task of adjusting the stunner in case the abnormal's mood turned and they needed to stun it. Kate paced back and forth, on the sat-phone to Magnus, arranging for transport. And whiskey.
"I wonder why it likes you so much," she said, sitting down.
"If you're jealous, Freelander, you should have packed a cheeseburger," Henry said. She smacked him lightly on the arm. "Besides, maybe it just likes British dudes."
"Don't!" Kate said, covering Will's mouth with her hand and preventing him from whatever accent he was about to attempt. She turned to Declan. "I will admit, that was a pretty impressive tackle."
"I've learned a few things," Declan admitted. He realized he was absently petting the creature in his lap.
"So," said Kate. "Gonna name him James?"
fin
Gravity_Not_Included, March 13, 2011