Angels with Newfound Hope
Act 1 Chapter 25: Need
Alex's Apartment - Day 11, 12:17PM
The sun pounded down on the city as hard as it could. But that didn't stop people from running about, setting up stalls in the park. It was the day before the summer festival, and everyone had bated breath. Adults and children alike shared the excitement for their favorite traditions. Meanwhile, a certain human was just waking up from an unwarranted slumber.
"Ugh... what kind of bus hit me last night?" Alex groaned, groggily trying to recollect. A dull soreness in his neck proved to be the perfect reminder.
"Right. Tranq dart. I need to get some breakfast, try and get my head straight again." The brunette began to wonder just why he was talking to himself when his phone went off. The vibrations in his pocket jolted him from the sofa. He checked the caller ID, noting the police's number.
"Alex speaking, who am I talking to?" He tried his best not to sound grouchy. What could they need with him so early on? They usually didn't call like this.
"Your favorite officer. I had to use the work phone since mine's dead." Bryce's deep, heavenly voice immediately picked his mood up.
"Oof, been there. You forget to charge it, or did your drunk ass just pass out again?" The human jabbed.
"No comment. So hey, I'm thinking about going to the festival tomorrow after work. You want to come with?" The chief proposed.
"I uh... what?" Alex was stunned at the prospect. Him and Bryce? And on a proper date?! This sounded too good to be true, but he didn't care.
"Yeah. I never really had a reason to go until you showed up. Now I get to show my new buddy around. We can even watch the big fireworks together." The dragon seemed quite chipper, and it spread.
"Bryce... are you? Is this-"
"Me asking you to hang out at the festival? You bet your ass I am." Bryce cheerily declared. The brunette on the other end, however...
"Oh..." He visibly deflated, trying to keep his voice in check.
"Something the matter?" The stocky dragon pressed. That wasn't like Alex to sound like that around him. They normally make such great company for each other.
"It- it's nothing, really. I'm pumped for this. See you tomorrow?" The human picked himself up momentarily, hopefully getting his cover back.
"Alright. Be ready by eight." With that, they hung up.
Alex stared at his phone with no discernible emotion. The thought of him and Bryce hanging out again was great and all, but he just wanted more. Just one proper date would make this trip so much better.
But there was always that nagging voice in the back of his mind. That one damned thought that always ruined his mood every single time. And now it was amplified tenfold.
'He will never think of you as anything more than a friend.'
It stayed with the human the entire day: always plaguing him, always ruining everything he tried. The only thing he could focus on was rechecking his inventory. Alex fell asleep on his rifle that night, his dreams turbulent...
Day 12, 7:58PM
After the day's admittedly tedious activities, Alex kept an eye on the clock. His overshirt was somewhat wrinkled from the anticipation of its wearer. Just two more minutes and his dragon would be here. There was no hope in being passive anymore.
He'd have to show Bryce how he really felt. No more beating around the bush. God only knows if he'd be thrown through that portal tomorrow. Might as well try and make the best of it.
The doorbell finally rang, jolting the brunette from all but one thought.
'Must be him. Do I have everything? Phone, wallet...' He patted his pockets on the way to the door.
"Hey Alex." Bryce's winning smile and surprisingly well groomed scales greeted the human the moment the door opened.
"Hey." Alex almost went in for a hug, but stopped himself, thinking it would probably be too weird. "So uh... you ready to head out?" He queried awkwardly.
"Yeah, about that. I kind of just want to hang around here if that's okay." The stocky dragon replied simply.
"It's your call. Make yourself at home." The human stepped aside to let him in, watching as he went straight for the sofa.
"Thanks. I have to say, the council didn't do too bad with this place at all." Bryce observed from his new perch.
"I guess, but I honestly would've been just fine with a studio apartment like yours. This is a bit too much space." Alex chuckled sheepishly. It was much akin to his Onyx house in terms of size, and even that was starting to feel too big.
"Meanwhile, the Chief of Police has to make do with what he can scrape together." The chief himself joked. "Speaking of, can we trade? I'm getting sick of that crappy place if I'm being honest." Alex couldn't help but snort at the poor guy.
"I'll think about it. But you know, I feel you completely. I was stuck with a crappy little apartment myself when I first started my current job." He stated nonchalantly.
"I get the feeling you won't. So, what's the plan?" The dragon questioned. Another snort from the human resounded between them.
"Really, mister 'Let's go to the festival but not really'?" Alex snarked from his spot atop the loveseat.
"We still have to do something." Bryce raised a paw defensively. In his defense, it was kind of getting boring already.
"I can offer you a bookshelf or my phone. Pick your poison." The brunette held the device up, whilst gesturing to the shelf nearby.
"Eh, no thanks. I've already got enough fiber in my diet. And my claws are likely much too big for that tiny thing." The chief waved both of the options off. What a pity there wasn't much else.
"Not a fan of reading: got it." Alex pretended to check something off a list.
"Now why would I come visit just to read some crappy book? Besides, I do from time to time." The scarred dragon defended further.
"Oh really? What do you read then?" The human fired back.
"Signs, menus, magazines, movie posters, pa-"
"Sorry, my good man, those don't count." The brunette cut him off with a playful tone.
"Let me have a look around, then." Bryce tossed himself back up, barely missing the coffee table. That probably wouldn't have been too fun if he'd even grazed it.
"Knock yourself out. The place isn't anything special, though." Alex shrugged, watching with amusement as his friend made a beeline for the kitchen. "Had a feeling that's what you were after."
"Hey look, I found something." Bryce held up a bottle of the cheap wine he cooked with triumphantly."
"Go ahead and raid the fridge too if you like. There's still plenty." The human joked, gesturing to the white monolith. The chief hummed in thought for a moment before making his response.
"No thanks, I'm good. This'll hold me just fine." He shrugged, carrying the bottle back in his maw. A very cheeky grin spread across Alex's face as a funny little idea popped into his head.
"Oh, I get it now. You want to play spin the bottle." He said slowly with that same look still plastered on.
"May-be. We just have to empty it out first." The dragon started slicing at the seal with a claw.
"And not into the sink, I take it." The brunette continued with hope that this could be real. Spin-the-Bottle or not, he'd still love a kiss.
"Of course not. That'd be a terrible waste." Bryce mocked a posh tone, which made the other laugh.
"Yeah, a terrible waste of the second cheapest wine in the store!" The human got out through the laughing fit.
"I'm not sure how you humans are with things like this, but here, we just don't throw out perfectly good things." The chief explained nonchalantly.
"I'm not 100% sure that counts as 'perfectly good'. Also, how dare you. I've been cooking with that." Alex chuckled, faking offense.
"Hey, at least it's not the absolute bottom of the barrel. So are you going to help me with this or not?" Bryce shot back playfully, to which the brunette recluded back into his mind. That wine wasn't really good when he first tried it. But at the same time: it was Bryce. That dilemma ran circles around him for a moment before he finally had some verdict.
"Eh, screw it. It's already out anyway." The human shrugged casually.
"Alright then. Let's make it one glass for you, and the rest for me." The dragon offered. It would've seemed fine aside from one thing.
"Hey wait a second. How the hell is that ratio fair?!" Alex snapped in a sassy tone. It seemed to garner his attention at least.
"From my guess, I'd say I weigh five to ten times more than you do. This is as fair as it gets, little man." The chief confidently argued. His smarmy grin put the other's to shame.
"Fine. I'll go grab us some glasses." The man stood up in defeat, padding over to the cupboard. There was a resounding 'POP' that snapped his attention over before he could even open them. And what did he find at the source but Bryce. He lay on his back, tail curled between his legs with his lips wrapped around the bottle. It was dead silent aside from the baby-like suckling noise before Alex lost it.
"Oh, what the fuck?! That's the funniest thing I've seen since I arrived here!" He managed through a mix of wheezing and squawking laughter. The sight was one for the album: of hilariously embarrassing photos. "I guess that means I don't have any dishes to do! Oh... how is it?" Finally calming down, he let his initial question out.
"I have 100% deduced that this is wine." The dragon declared nonchalantly, holding the now empty bottle up.
"Cheap-ass wine. I thought you were more of a beer guy anyway?" The brunette queried simply.
"I take what I can get." Bryce shrugged. The last drop or so was emptied into his mouth before he set the bottle down.
"Okay. Please promise me you'll visit my world, and that you'll help me make 'drinking like a dragon' a thing." Alex requested, a childlike smile painting itself across his features.
"Sure. Not everyone can drink like me." The chief accepted heartily. His satisfied gaze drifted between the human and bottle.
"As evidenced." Said human fired back with a snappy point to the accomplishment.
"And hey, we can finally play now." The dragon lit up a bit at the return of his idea.
"Oh darn. I just realized we need more people to play." The brunette snapped his fingers out of mock disappointment.
"Oh double darn, you're right. I just drank all this for nothing then." Bryce faked a pout which coerced his friend into some tittering.
"I'm getting a feeling 'spin the bottle' was just a guise for you to drink." Alex placed a fist on his hip in a playful manner.
"What? I would never. You wound me with these accusations, Alex!" The chief held a paw to his forehead overdramatically.
"But of course, the angelic Chief of Police would never stoop to such lows." The human switched over to his posh brit impression.
"You know, we could still play with just us." Bryce winked at him, immediately setting his face on fire again.
"I... I'd say we won't even need the bottle then." Alex stammered through his painfully obvious blushing.
"Oh come on now. Where's your sense of funness?" The stocky chief pressed jokingly.
"I think it went wherever my brain just did, along with your vocabulary." The brunette deadpanned, still going along with it somehow.
"Ah, there it is. Now come on and lighten up a little more. We're here to relax." The dragon coolly uttered, motioning to him.
"Sorry Bryce. It's just been hard with everything going on. If anything, it's worse now than ever. Reza's screwing us over left and right, and with that, our chances of ever having a healthy relationship. And what really takes the cake is the threat looming over us if we don't stop him." Alex was subtle in his hint at the comet. Just one person being informed wouldn't do any harm, right...?
"You really want to have this conversation right now? Fine, let's have it. Just let it all out." Now Bryce was getting annoyed. His friend had been so laid back whenever they hung out. What about him changed so suddenly?
Let's. And while we're at it, let's talk about Maverick. He may have it out for me because he suspects me of working with Reza. Yet he saw me shoot at that asshole when he got wounded. And me? I'm just caught in the crossfire, trying to make the best of it." The man's saddened grays never left his company's ambers as he spoke.
"You know you're only involved because we needed your help, right?" The dragon's massive form shifted forward, with the shadows casting an intimidating visage on him.
"And I'm doing everything in my power. But it doesn't mean it's easy." The human got more heated with each word coming from Bryce's mouth.
"You think I don't know that? Me: the one responsible for every police action taken in this matter. If you want someone to blame, I'm right here. I can take it." The chief's attitude only worsened in itself. And with the emotions bouncing off the pair, all it would take was one large spark...
"I'm not blaming anyone. I'm just... venting. This whole thing never was something that made me comfortable, even when I helped Chris out." The brunette argued. His temper was fading and his facade cracking.
"And whose responsibility is that, huh? It's always me no matter how you look at it! I was the one who didn't listen to Maverick's suspicions about Reza! If we'd acted then, this whole situation may not have spiralled out of control like it did. And despite what you think, he found us the hideout even after I forced him into sick leave." Bryce's brows furrowed into an angry glower, his voice growing in force with each sentence.
"We were practically at Reza's front door and he still got away! We might have even caught him if I had done something different! So let this be my official apology to you. I am sorry for anything I've done to wrong you. I'm sorry for putting you through all of this and having to pester you to fix it. This is all my fault." He finally finished, his heart poured into the apology. Alex was still for but a second, unsure of what to say before it came to mind.
"Bryce, you don't need to apologize for any- ack!" The man yelped as the wine bottle was hurled in his direction. He immediately batted it into the bookshelf, shattering it into thousands of emerald colored pieces.
"Then what the fuck do you want me to do, huh?!" The dragon bellowed out of unbridled rage. This, in turn, finally stripped the last of Alex's patience away.
"Nothing because none of this is your fucking fault!" He screamed at a volume that made even the chief flinch a little. The two remained silent for a full minute, the boiling heat of the argument gradually dying down, until all that was left was a sorrowful silence.
"You think it's easy for me either: seeing so many die on my watch? You think I don't ask myself the same questions either? What I could've done differently, and if it would've even made a difference? I thought I'd be used to it by now, but I'm still not. How could anyone ever? It's my duty to protect: but I just can't with everyone. I never could. You know what happened on patrol today? We found a mother and child: dead in their home on the outskirts. The mother died from an illness, and the kid never left her side. I guess we got lucky with explaining it to relatives. The father was one of Reza's earlier victims." Bryce sullenly vented. He couldn't even look at the human. Not like there would be anything to say to that.
"You've been to more than enough scenes by now. How have you stayed so calm? Was it your work with that friend, or do the lives lost not matter? I'm sorry I made you get up close with a corpse on your first day. I just had to. Your help has been priceless in all this, and I had no one else to turn to. It's the same case for me. They could always ask someone else, but if I'm best suited for the job, who am I to say no? I'd have to blame myself for every mistake the last chief made otherwise." That was it. There was nothing more the chief had left. All his sorrows were finally out.
"And I take it, that's why you drink? To get away from it all, even momentarily..." Alex finally uttered. The mother and child plagued his mind now. Could it have been the same kid he saw at the convenience store? And if so, why didn't he suspect something was off? He felt like an idiot for not realizing sooner.
"It may be surprising, but-"
"Heh. Believe it or not, the alcoholic police chief is a huge stereotype back in Terra. Even Onyx's chief is that way." The brunette interjected with a dry chuckle.
"Seriously?" Bryce finally met his gaze again, those orbs leaking bottled up regret.
"Dead serious. He's the only one who can outdrink all the bargoers." The human let fly the random factoid.
"I'm not surprised. The research about it is out there, but the general populace doesn't know. It's all just internal documents." The stocky dragon looked again to where the bottle shattered. His raging fit almost got his friend hurt, and he kicked himself over and over for it.
"How come they don't know? Does the government just pull the wool over their eyes with stuff like that?" Alex questioned seriously. He knew all too well about Onyx's government, and how they acted.
"That's exactly it. They trust their chief, and they'd start to have doubts if they knew about my vices." Bryce exposed. Not like it changed anything. This was just typical behavior for... anyone.
"Wait. I thought you were well known as a bar regular, and friends with Zhong." The man furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Maybe they just don't realize the side effects. They see someone who can drink a lot, and does so for fun, but not what it means. Are there any other stereotypes you have?" The chief queried, his gaze connecting again. They both could see the pain each other held.
"It's certainly the biggest, aside from rookie hazings. They have new officers take on the night shift." The brunette brushed his hair aside before it could get in his eyes.
"Do I dare?" The dragon cautiously pushed.
"Better you didn't." Alex sounded even worse, as though his dirty secret would be exposed even talking about himself and Mongoose.
"Thankfully, we don't have those. But suicide rates have been a massive problem since day one." Bryce's own voice was dead now. It was as if a switch was flipped by the mere thought.
"You guys too?" The human held nothing but remorse for any officer at their brink. Part of his duty as Viper was to help prevent it. It's why the amnesia darts were made to begin with: so they'd forget about the day's trauma, if only for a little longer.
"Yeah. If you have to deal with what we do on a daily basis, it can have horrible and long lasting effects on you. Everyone has their breaking point. But we all still cope in different ways, some better than others. It's why I'm so worried about everyone and wish you knew them as long as me. Maverick, Sebastian, Naomi, they're all stressed out with this going on." The massive dragon admitted. It took some guts to do that, especially with your own people or yourself.
"I hope they're not about to snap. I may barely know any of them, but lives are lives." Alex felt horrible knowing he could've been a cause of all this.
"They're all taking this very personally, just like me. I'm just worried about them like everything else. At least until we can sort out this madness. And no matter what you think about Maverick, he still found Reza's hideout, which led us to the generators. I guess you both helped a lot in this investigation." A pitiful smile formed on the chief's muzzle, almost getting the human in on it.
"My point is that we're a very tight-knit group. The bond the four of us have is how we know to look out for one another. There's really nothing else quite like it." A pregnant pause began to form before being crushed by his rumbling voice.
"How many more do you think have to die to stop Reza? He's more dangerous now than ever, and you know how much depends on how this ends. But I'm glad to have known you regardless. You know those models? I've kept it hidden from everyone else. You've seen me and my friends at the barbeque. They'd never let me live it down. Sorry about the bottle, by the way. I'd clean it up, but..." Bryce trailed off, finally allowing Alex a chance to speak.
"Forget about it. It's in the past, and it's more my fault for treating it like a baseball." The man brushed it off in a more upbeat manner, hoping to return the lighthearted mood.
"Heh. There's the human I like. Hey by the way, you'll never guess what happened with me and Emera at work." The chief snapped back to his usual self almost suspiciously quickly, but Alex wouldn't complain. Only go and grab some bottled water for the two.
"Wait... what did?" The human peeked out from behind the steel fridge door. His interest was piqued as he plodded back to the sofa.
"So the day before yesterday, she tried her thing again. She complained about her back to get a massage and asked me if I didn't want to settle down. I'd had enough at some point and just straight up told her I wasn't interested, and that I was already talking with someone." Bryce shot off. To say the brunette was shocked would be a titanic understatement.
"Wait, what?! Who?! And you didn't sugarcoat anything, just like I said?" He yelled out of impulse. His eyes were wide as dinner plates, and a smile began to play at the corners of his mouth.
"I said I'd take your advice to a T. And it's none of your business, thank you." The dragon brushed him off pretty handily.
"Wait, what exactly did you say?" Alex decided to drop the other person... for now.
"Just that I noticed her painfully clear attempts to woo me and that I was already talking to someone." Bryce exposed further. The person can't have been that Camilla girl from the day his hunter attacked them.
"And her reaction?" The man requested simply.
"Honestly, it wasn't much. She just looked at me and said 'Oh, I see'. At least she cut the crap after." The relieved chief almost sighed. Like he was reliving all that harassment as he spoke.
"I honestly wasn't sure what I was expecting. But hey, mission accomplished at least." A heavy weight was lifted off the human's shoulders in that moment. One rival was gone, and only one remained.
"Not quite, kiddo. She's still having me do stupid things like stand guard outside her office for hours on end." The dragon nonchalantly mentioned.
"Hardly a punishment if you consider all the harassment. At least you shouldn't have much longer." Alex uttered, taking a swig from his bottle.
"Yeah, but that won't stop her from wasting my time til it's up." Bryce grabbed the bottle left for him and cracked it open, downing it in one go.
"Just something you can blame me for. I only wanted to do the right thing for you." The brunette didn't regret his decision at all. He already had the same problem when Zoe was alive, this was no different. At least his dragon nodded in agreement.
"Oh, so I've got something I've been meaning to ask." Alex sidetracked the conversation a fair bit.
"Shoot." Was all the stocky reptile said.
"If I told you me and Reza weren't actually from the same world, what would you say?" The man began.
"Not from the same world? What do you mean by it, besides you saying he's an actor?" Bryce cocked a brow out of suspicion.
"Like, completely different universes." The human explained simply.
"Different universes... Sounds like a crappy science fiction story to me." The chief motioned to nothing in particular, obviously not buying it.
"You remember what happened last time you said something was 'bad sci fi'?" Alex confidently asked.
"Yeah, but I'm just saying here. I'd like some proof with that statement of yours. That's a big claim to make for such a small human." The chief crossed his forelegs.
"Okay, forget that then. What if I said there's two more humans here besides me and Reza?" The smaller male pressed, hoping for something, anything this time around.
"This is getting kind of weird." The dragon awkwardly grinned.
"Just humor me." Alex deadpanned.
"Well I'd call you crazy unless you had proof." Bryce chuckled. All these questions were making him think this was just a joke.
"Aren't you supposed to follow up on something like this if I reported it?" The brunette took on a more bored look.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we have to believe it. We'll look for proof if there is none. But if we can't turn anything up... we're kind of screwed without even a lead to follow." The larger reptile explained in some detail.
"Understood. Hey by the way, when you and Sebastian went to the farmhouse, you left me and Maverick alone in the same room." The human referred to the debacle before the close call that was that infiltration.
"I did?" The officer donned a quizzical grin, clearly forgetting about that moment.
"Yeah. I was almost worried for a bit back there." Alex finally regained the usual energy he held around the dragon.
"Ah don't worry about him. You mentioned you had a talk with him about a week ago, and that didn't end poorly. He may be intimidating, but he's also got a very strong sense of justice. You can trust me when I say he wouldn't do anything to you without good reason." Bryce reassured the smaller male, earning a tiny smile.
"I hope s- are those fireworks I hear?" Alex was cut off when muffled explosions started going off. Some were followed by crackling, whilst others were preceded by whistling instead.
"Oh yeah. They have fireworks shows every night of the festival." The chief nonchalantly explained.
"You asked me out to that spectacle, and instead you come here and drink my wine?" The man chuckled lightly.
"It's really nothing special for me anymore. You see one show, you see them all. It's more a thing for couples and families." That one sentence tore Alex's good mood away just as quickly as he got it back. Every time Bryce brought light to the possibility of not being interested was yet another arrow in his heart.
"Oh... Everyone's telling me how I just have to see them." The brunette stated in a much deader tone than he wanted.
"Alex, is something wrong? You've been like this on and off since I got here." The dragon's worried stare pierced into him, enhancing the vulnerability far too much.
"It's nothing, Bryce." The smaller man tried to replace his mask.
"It's not nothing. I can see it written all over your face. Please, tell me what the matter is." The stocky chief insisted.
"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" Alex grumbled. One look at his friend said it all. "Fine. It's just... I don't know." A pregnant pause suffocated them for a mere moment. "What is this?" He finally uttered.
"Us?" Bryce uttered. "We're friends. Or at least I hope." The solemn tone poked through the hold made by that statement.
"But is this all?" The man pressed with a very unexpected question. One that shocked his companion.
"Wait. Alex, are you really saying you want more?" The large reptile was stunned. He had his suspicions, but...
The human's silence said it all. Everything came crystal clear in that instant. All the comical flirting, the willingness to help with no convincing, even the spiel with Emera. It all made sense.
"Oh... oh my." Was all Bryce could say. How was he even supposed to react to something like this? The deafening stillness between the two remained for several minutes. Neither of them knew what to say, only waiting for the other.
"I'm-"
"I'm sorry." Alex didn't even give him a chance. "I should get to bed. Just... forget tonight." With that, he made a beeline for the bedroom.
"Alex?!" The dragon jumped off the sofa, running after him. He was right there when the door slammed in his face. The human's squeaky landing on the bed barely echoed into the hall.
Somehow, that man locked the door right as he shut it, denying Bryce entry. He couldn't force it open no matter how hard he tried.
"Alex, please come out. We can talk about this." The larger male called through the barrier.
"What is there to talk about? You're not interested, and I'm stupid for not realizing it sooner!" Alex yelled right back in a shaky voice. "I should've known better than to try anything. Why even bother when the person you like is already seeing someone?"
"Wait, you think I'm seeing someone? Who?" The chief cocked a brow. That was the first time he'd been accused by the human.
"What does it matter? You'll just go back to her anyway once you leave." The smaller male buried his face into a pillow.
"Alex... I'm not seeing anyone. I'm sorry if I led you to believe so, it's just-" Bryce cut himself off. What could he even try to say without upsetting his friend? "I just didn't know how to react when I finally took the hint. Let's just talk this out: one on one."
"I already got your hint. Just go." Alex yelled weakly through the door.
"And what if it's wrong? You won't know unless you let me in." The reptile fired back. Another ensuing silence made him worry momentarily before the wooden devil finally clicked open. All that could be heard was the soft clicking of claws as the two took a seat on the bed.
"Why am I even bothering? All you'll do is say you're straight and leave." The human muttered just barely loud enough to be heard.
"You don't know that-"
"And why not? I've seen and heard how you act, getting all cuddly with that bitch!" The smaller male spat venom at him.
"You don't know anything about that history, kid." The chief's anger started bubbling up, threatening to explode all over again.
"It doesn't matter! You're not faithful to anyone who wants to be with you for more than a week or two! All y-"
"All I want is someone who can let me be me! Nothing else. I thought you were different, Alex, but I guess I was wrong." The hint of betrayal in Bryce's eyes finally snapped the man out of it. He just undid everything he worked so hard for in that one moment.
Time slowed to a crawl as the officer made to leave. Each footstep was a deafening reminder he'd screwed up. He wanted so badly to say something, to win him back somehow, but all that was there was a blank. Alex could only watch in silent agony as his dragon left...