John's POV
He's startled when the cobra stays still as everyone else leaves the area. It seems to startle the commander as well who looks like he is about to start blustering before Eric starts speaking.
If I was to pass judgement on you this minute, would you be found guilty by She Who Created Us' standards and sentenced to death? Eric asks the gifted man coolly, holding so very still as he stare at the commander.
"Are you threatening me?" their senior officer demands, looking everywhere but at the cobra's face.
"Threatening?" Eric hisses aloud. "No. Promising. I am a thrice blessed Tracker." The cobra's scales vanish, leaving pale skin and glowing marks. "I am marked by Shadow Mistress, Dusk Daughter, and Dawn Son. Do you wish to meet them early? I am more than willing to introduce you if would like to keep breaking our laws."
A breath later the scales are back and the Tracker marks vanish beneath them. Pivoting on the balls of his feet, the cobra leaves, striding away as if he hadn't just threatened someone who could make their lives in a war zone hell. At the same time, if the gifted man pulls such a stunt, the chances of the Tracker passing judgment are fairly high. It's a well established fact among any of the clans not to piss off a Tracker, that can ruin anyone's day and do so very thoroughly.
"Sir," he states, snapping to attention before leaving himself without commenting at all on the exchange. He's quite sure that the ranking officer has something to think about.
He doesn't actually get far before one of the man that Eric identified as MI6 approaches him, "Can I have a word with you."
Nodding, he stops and waits to see what the spook has to say.
"I would like to extend my sincerest thanks for saving me from having to figure a way out," the taller man tells him sincerely, offering a hand, "Bill Tanner."
"John Watson," he replies as he accepts it.
"Can i ask a question?" Tanner queries with a serious look.
"Go ahead," he agrees with another nod.
"Which is in charge? You or the tall bloke with scales?" the agent asks, then comments with a bit of a chuckle, "It was hard to tell."
"Technically me, but grandma always told me to take advice from others when they have a better idea what to do or what is going on." He answers with a snicker. "Jacob, the bloke who looks vaguely Middle Eastern is second, Eric the one you were asking about is third."
"Ah," Tanner hums, "That makes sense, listening to someone who knows what they are doing can be a very important detail."
He just nods, because he doesn't feel the need to comment.
"I will be discussing this situation with my superiors, including the fact your unit did something that I have never seen any other group pull off." The agent remarks slowly, as if considering his words first.
"We're shifters, we have a different set of gifts than humans or even gifted." He explains with a shrug, falling into parade rest without actually thinking about.
"It was still amazing," Tanner states, "It could be very useful in the war we are currently dealing with."
He nods, agreeing because he knows that pack tactics can differ dramatically pack to pack if the alpha is smart enough to use each person's strong suit and compensate for weaknesses.
He's startled when the spook pulls a blank card out and pen of a pocket and writes something down before handing it to him. "If you find yourself in a situation where a different perspective may be useful, call and I'll do what I can."
"Thank you," he murmurs as he accepts it, tucking it into a pocket. "Feel free to call on me if you find yourself in a situation where you may need someone with alpha training to deal, or Eric for a law sort of situation since that's technically what he does."
"He's a cop?" Tanner asks curiously.
"No, a Tracker, which is sort of our version of a cop, only more Judge Dredd." He answers with a snicker, remembering the cop-judge-jury-and-executioner his sister enjoyed watching it because of the female judge.
"That," there is a pause, "would be a lot of responsibility for a person to have."
"Yes," he agrees seriously, "a great deal of responsibility. Each Tracker has their own speciality or niche, Eric's just happens to be a bit more," it's his turn to pause while figuring out the word that best describes the cobra, "diverse."
"The offer still remains, for you or any of the other members of your unit." Tanner reiterates firmly.
That's the end of their exchange because in the following breath the agent nods and strides away with a determined expression. He has to keep himself from trying to look in the human's mind or switching his viewing ability to look at Tanner's genetic makeup.
He finds it amusing that he doesn't always remember names but always remembers how a person looks when he uses his other eyesight.
Now that was an interesting exchange, he thinks as he walks over to rejoin the pack. Only he gets stopped by the others they saved in order to thank him for their unit coming for them. Not anything like he expected it to be. Of course, this whole mission so far has been one 'interesting' experience after another. He's definitely not writing his grandmother about some of this, but maybe he can tell her a very watered down version so she doesn't worry too much about him. Right, like that's going to happen. She's the relative he is closest to as the only one who knows the full extent of his healing gift.
Still, promises and threats, what a day. The really fun part is it isn't even lunchtime yet, what else is going to happen? Hopefully none of it is bad, he'd really prefer things not to go bad.
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Did anyone see the minor crossover?