Blah

[maderr]

Feeling down. Probably cause I just saw my family, and now am on my own again. Still conflicted, probably always will be. I can never make the right decision where I'm concerned. Blah blah blah.

Since I figure I'm not the only who could use cheering up - Part II



Part II: Shannon


He'd long ago learned that life wasn't fair. In fact, according to his careful analyses, life seemed to delight in being not fair.

Sometimes he swore that being what he was meant his life was more unfair that most, but he had to concede there was heavy personal bias involved in that conclusion.

All the same, he wished life would cut him a break.

His cell vibrated in his pocket and Shannon sighed at the name that came up. Demon 1. He flipped it open and mashed the accept button. "Hey, mom." He grimaced and waved the elevator to go on without him, stepping off to the side so no one in the crowded lobby crashed into him. "No, I'm not going to be—I can't—Mom! Mr. Waterhouse needs me tonight for—no, I can't excuse myself. Anyway, you've got—Mom! I'm sorry, Mom. In the elevator. I'll see you tomorrow for lunch, I promise. Meet him then. Love you, bye."

Sighing as it started ringing again, he shoved it back in his pocket and hopped into the next elevator.

Strictly speaking, Dylan didn't need him for anything. Dylan never needed him, which was just one more bit of unfairness in life. But Dylan did know the problems he had with his parents, and had 'hired him as an intern' so that Shannon was free to be Dragon.

The elevator rapidly emptied as it climbed higher and higher, until Shannon was the only one left when it reached the top. He resettled the strap of his beat up messenger bag and combed his fingers through his hair, then strolled into the front room of Dylan's office.

"Hello, Shannon," the secretary – she hated being referred to as an 'administrative assistant' like secretary was somehow a demeaning thing to be – said.

Shannon smiled. "Hey, Ginger. How's it going?"

"Well enough," she said with a smile. "Have some coffee, I just made it. Got some scones at the bakery this morning."

"Cool." Shannon strolled through the door off to the side and rapidly took advantage of her offer, smiling a thanks as he came back out to see Ginger arguing with someone on the phone.

He pushed open the door to Dylan's office and moved to the sitting area in the corner. Dylan's office was massive – his wrap around desk was all the way to the back, with a view of the city to Shannon's left. The front left corner was the sitting area, the front right had a long meeting table.

Setting down his coffee and cinnamon scone, he quickly set up his laptop and settled down to work.

All four of the Guardians, and especially Qilin, possessed extraordinary intelligence, skill – all of it. It was a necessity. But their skills all lay in different areas. Astor and Ling guarded up close. He and Dylan protected from afar.

Dylan was more physical. He'd turned the city into a veritable fortress. Dozens upon dozens of buildings had been demolished, rebuilt. Parks revamped, new structures erected, all because Dylan Waterhouse was quite the entrepreneur and generous in his donations to the city. But every change was meticulous and particular; slowly and steadily he was making the Sage's new home an impenetrable shell.

Shannon's realm was the magical. His parents could not stand that he had chosen the humanities over the sciences, but he had never been able to tell them there was never really a choice in the matter.

Pulling up his programs, he began steadily checking all his shields and barriers, fixing those which had weakened, slightly altering the functions of others according to the data retrieved since the last time he'd looked them over.

He typed at dizzying speed, frequently switching between dozens of languages, more magic involved in his work than even the best sorcerers knew about. It had taken him five years to develop his laptop, the unique programs on it – but he'd done it. Magic at the press of a few keys.

The door opened and he fumbled, swearing softly and deleting the bad rune. He reached for his coffee, then thought better of it. Whenever Dylan was around, all he did was spill or drop something.

"Hiding out again?" Dylan asked with a smile. There was affection in it, but the sort of affection he showed all of them. Dylan might be tough, stubborn, and highly intimidating to most – but the clichés about hard shells, soft interiors were very true in all their cheesy glory.

Shannon grimaced, reaching for his coffee very slowly, shoving his laptop aside so his barriers didn’t fall because he dumped gourmet coffee all over them. "Mom wants me to meet somebody, some big shot bookworm in town whom she 'thinks I'll like'."

Dylan laughed. "So what do I have you doing?"

"I have no idea, I just said you needed me and that I couldn't bow out," Shannon replied, setting his coffee down unspilled and feeling quite proud. He pushed his glasses back up his nose and went back to work, wishing he could block Dylan out.

But he heard every sound, every movement, and even from here he could smell traces of Dylan's cologne; it was sharp, not wholly unappealing, but Shannon far preferred the underlying hint of the sea beneath it. No doubt the cologne was a gift from someone Dylan was manipulating.

He forced his attention back where it should be, frowning as he pulled up the wards around the train station. When Gage had arrived, he'd noticed some damage done to them – later, of course, he'd learned it was the medallion Gage had been wearing. He'd repaired the minor damage and all had been well since. That was a week ago. Everything had been fine when he'd checked an hour ago, and he had not been alerted to any sort of breach in the defenses.

Yet now there was a definite cut in the train station wards. Shannon frowned. Something about the train station…he should have been alerted. The ward had been neatly, carefully cut, but not so well that it would have gone unnoticed.

Something about the train station did not get along with his magic…magic period, quite possibly. He would have to address the problem, but later – right now his bigger concern was who had gotten into their city that had the power simply to cut through his magic.

That bespoke a skill he did not like one bit.

"What's wrong?"

Shannon startled, head jerking up – and inwardly cringed at Dylan's soft laughter. Unfair, but par for the course, to always look like an idiot. He sternly reminded himself there was something more important than his hopeless crush. "Someone's breached my magic, and without alerting me. Train station, same as when Gage arrived with the medallion."

"Something to do with the trains, perhaps," Dylan replied, immediately sliding into the role of Guardian.

"Possibly," Shannon said, chewing on his bottom lip as he returned to his programs, repairing the damaged wards, strengthening all of them, extending them as far as he possibly could. "I should go check it out, and I need to see if I can trace the invader anyway."

Dylan nodded. "We'll both go. Perhaps there's something I can do. Let me change." He turned and vanished through a door at the back of his office, reemerging just as Shannon finished packing up his stuff.

He immediately looked away, but the image was seared in. Dylan never wore casual clothes. Shannon hadn't known he owned any. He'd always liked Dylan fine – more than – in the three piece suits. But jeans, t-shirt, and leather jacket…

If only he were as bold as Astor or Chang, as happy-go-lucky as Ling. He wasn't though, and never would be. His meticulous nature was his strength, and it was his unwillingness to take risks that allowed him to build the wards and shields with the complexity and thoroughness he did.

Unfortunately, it also meant he'd rather die than tell Dylan how he felt.

He slung his bag across his chest and followed Dylan out. They didn't speak, they seldom had to when it came to their real work. It had always been the same between Astor and Ling, even before they'd become lovers.

Outside he buttoned his jacket up, fingers lingering on the soft suede. One of the few nice articles of clothing he bothered to buy himself; otherwise he was all about jeans and t-shirts, good boots (because sneakers didn't do so well some of the places he had to go in the course of a Dragon's day).

They eschewed a taxi, walking the six blocks so they could analyze and search as they worked, Dylan the spells he'd laid into the city itself, Shannon the spells he'd woven through and around it.

By the time they reached the train station, they'd gained no clue as to who had slipped into their city. "Should we inform the others yet?"

Dylan shrugged. "It could be a transient; albeit a not very nice one. No one is able to sense the Sage is here; we've taken care of that as thoroughly as anyone could."

"But his stepmother knows he's here," Shannon said quietly.

Dylan nodded and paused briefly to check the massive statue in front of the train station. Merely of the man for whom the station was named, but hidden throughout were spells – to protect, to defend, and far more besides. "Something about this area has never taken to magic as well as everywhere else in the city; I have noticed the anomaly before. I had thought the problem overcome, however. It would seem I was wrong." He smiled faintly. "I am glad you're much more thorough than I in such matters."

Shannon shrugged and pulled out his laptop as they entered the terminal, slowing down as he typed in his password and opened a of couple programs. He swore as someone bumped into him, nearly knocking his laptop from its precarious perch on one arm – an arm slid around his waist, steadying him, and Shannon murmured an absent thanks as he went back to work.

He called up an analysis of the entire station, worrying his bottom lip as he worked. "I don't get it," he said quietly. "I see nothing that would explain why it's so resistant. No disruptive materials were used in the construction; no old spells interfering with ours…" Frowning, he gave up analyzing the station. "Maybe we're doing this wrong."

"How do you mean?" Dylan asked, and his voice was so close Shannon shivered in surprise – and it struck him abruptly that the arm around his waist, the warm hand settled so comfortably on his hip, belonged to Dylan.

Through sheer force of will, he forced himself to concentrate. He hoped hoped hoped Dylan hadn't noticed him shivering. "Uh—I mean—" He shook his head. "It's not the station, you and I have both analyzed it to death, and I've just done it again now. That leaves the ground itself, or the trains."

"And obviously it is not the trains," Dylan continued. "I think this is perhaps a problem for another day, unfortunately."

Shannon nodded. "I know, but I was hoping with this latest problem that something else would turn up. I've been running a search on the traces of magic left by cutting my ward, I just need to transfer the tracking spell to my phone—" He fumbled in his pocket for his phone, realizing absently he probably could have sat down to do all this but he hated sitting in crowded places.

Pulling his phone out, he realized suddenly he needed a hand free and didn't have one. "Uh—"

Dylan took the phone out of his hand, chuckling softly, and flipped it open. "What do I need to do, Shannon? You weave spells like no one I've ever met."

Shannon felt his cheeks heat, wondering why the words sounded intimate when they so clearly weren't. He was an idiot – one who needed to pay attention. "Just, uh, hit accept when it says I've got a text."

"Sure."

Nodding, Shannon went to work, typing up the spell to track their intruder. It would be hard, there was only the barest thread of residue to work from, but it was certainly better than nothing.

He heard his phone vibrate, Dylan accept, and his screen flashed as the first stage of the spell was accepted. Once upon a time, this had to be done laboriously by hand – chanting or writing, laying down the spells one by one…

Now all he had to do was lay a spell of connection between the two objects, tangling it with a simple email, and then transmit the main spell from there. His screen flashed as the spell took hold, and he heard his phone chime as it took effect. He closed his laptop and stuffed it back in his bag and turned to take his phone – and realized Dylan was still holding him.

Snatching his phone back, he stumbled away. "Weak signal toward the south," he said.

"Guess we're not walking that," Dylan said with a smile. "Hang on, I'll call for a car."

Nodding, Shannon walked with him outside the station. With the efficiency that was Dylan's trademark, he had a car for them in a matter of minutes. Shannon slid in behind him, studiously keeping his attention on his phone and not on how many times he'd fantasized being pounced by Dylan in one of these rare instances they were alone together in one of his cars.

He frowned as the image on his phone changed. "We're headed just outside the city…to the University. Damn it."

Dylan laughed softly. "Any way to avoid your mother? At least your father is out of town."

"If he was home, they'd both be at the house," Shannon said with a sigh. "Ah, well. I'm with you, right? Means I'm working and she can't waylay me."

"Indeed," Dylan said with a smile. He fell silent as they made their way to the university.

Shannon could not help sneaking glances. He seriously had never known Dylan owned jeans, and he hoped to god the man never wore them again. Or the damned t-shirt. At least the suits Shannon sort of kept an impression of 'hands off'.

It totally wasn't fair. Astor had Ling, and Chang now had Gage. Any idiot could see those two were a done deal.

"We're here," Dylan said quietly, jerking Shannon from his thoughts.

He followed Dylan out of the car and made a face at the campus. Not that he hated it…he just hated that he was only his parents' son, and a son who had massively disappointed them.

Focusing on his phone, he led them through the massive campus. A lead weight settled in his stomach as he realized they were headed straight for the main science building. "Something weird is going on here," he said with a frown. "We're headed straight for my mother."

Dylan nodded in agreement.

Sighing in resignation, somehow unsurprised when the tracking spell took him straight to the lounge where his mother often holed up with her guests. He'd be willing to bet good money that she'd made late reservations at her precious club, and that she was currently pretty pissed with him for ditching.

Oh, well.

He knocked on the door, three sharp raps, then pushed it open. "Mom—"

"Shannon!" She sounded torn between surprise and rage. All his looks came from her, as well as his 'my goal is anorexia and I'm nearly there' build. One more thing on the list of unfairness in his life. He didn't even want to get started on his girlie name. "Well it's about time—" She broke off as she took in Dylan.

Dylan gave her one of his notorious smiles; the ones that were no small part of the reason he owned at least half the city (the other half Astor maintained was owned by the Chinese mob he said was secretly run by Chang and Ling's family – Chang was never amused). "Professor Skye, it's good to see you again. I greatly enjoyed your lecture last weekend."

"Thank you," Professor Skye said, anger easing as she waited to see what was going on. She turned back to Shannon. "Shannon, I thought you were busy working tonight."

"I'm afraid I guilt-tripped him into a tiny lie," Dylan said, and Shannon nearly jumped out of his skin as a hand settled on the small of his back. "I worked hard on our tickets and did not want to lose them. He wanted to come and apologize at least, since he hates to disappoint you."

Professor Skye blinked. "Shannon—"

"I really am sorry, mom," Shannon said, pushing into the room, ostensibly ignoring the other man in the room. "I'll make it up to you tomorrow—"

She cut him off with a raised hand. "We'll have lunch tomorrow." Her eyes slid briefly to Dylan. "You can explain what precisely I'm missing here." She nodded toward the man who'd been sitting quietly the entire time. "Since you're here to make apologies… This is Professor Lemoine, the guest I wanted you to meet tonight."

"Oh, now, I would hate to interfere in a young man's date," the man said congenially. He did not offer to shake their hands, but Shannon hadn't expected him to. He'd sooner touch a live wire. Professor Lemoine looked like a gentile professor, right down to the warm and pleasant smile – but his gray eyes were hard as stone behind the designer spectacles. "You gentlemen should enjoy yourselves, by all means. I can hardly keep pace with your mother, never mind her brilliant son as well."

"How long are you in town?" Shannon asked. "I'll make it up to you."

Those gray eyes flashed. "I'm only in briefly. I'll be making a longer trip later, but today I'm afraid I only lingered the night to spend some time with your mother."

"Then you shall have to let me make it up the next time you're in town."

"I'll look forward to it," Professor Lemoine replied.

Shannon wanted to zap him. Bastard. But that was all right. This small encounter was all he needed to ward against the bastard, and Lemoine knew it. Next time, he'd have to work harder to get inside – even in the train station, because they would figure that out.

Making their goodbyes, they swiftly retraced their steps.

He sat quietly back in the car, hearing Dylan give directions to the driver but not actually catching the words. "The Monk," he said quietly as Dylan settled down beside him. The realization of who they'd just met made him want to growl. All their spells, all their wards – clearly he needed to improve. "We need to fix that train station."

"We'll start on it once he's gone. To do anything now would give him advantage. At least he is not foolish enough to try anything."

Shannon made a face. "I wish he was," he said glumly. "Then he'd be an idiot and I wouldn't have to worry about him."

"No reason to worry now, and soon there will be no reason to worry at all," Dylan said calmly. "But we should definitely relax tonight, for I sense we shall not be able to do it again for some time."

Nodding, Shannon turned his head to look out the window, not really seeing the city lights, the crowds of people. His eyes landed briefly on two people holding hands, heads bent close, and abruptly remembered what Dylan had done. "You shouldn't have done that," he said. "My mom is going to tell everyone that I'm dating you now. Why did you do that?"

"Because if you'd gone alone, she would have kept you there. A boss would never tag along while his employee apologized to his mother. It was the only plausible reason for my presence."

Shannon nodded, closing his eyes, wanting suddenly just to go to bed. He wished he were more like one of the others, who would have made certain this played exactly the way they wanted. He just…sat.

"Shannon."

He opened his eyes, turning his head back toward Dylan. That tone was a new one. "Something wrong?"

Dylan shook his head, but there was an odd look on his face – then it faded away in an easy smile. "Would you like to go to dinner?"

Shannon went still, slowly sitting up straight, frowning at Dylan. "You've never bothered to ask so formally before. We've eaten dinner plenty of times."

The smile turned into a grin, and Dylan was suddenly a bit closer than he had been before. "I wasn't asking you out on a date before."

"Oh," Shannon said weakly, barely getting the word out. "Why all of a sudden?" No way no way no way.

"I'm slower on some things than others, I guess," Dylan said dryly, shaking his head at himself. "You should have just knocked me upside the head."

Shannon shrugged. "Not my style. Which stupid moment of mine tipped it?"

"Lots of little things, really," Dylan said. "I've been catching on bit by bit, but the train station tonight sealed it."

"Ugh," Shannon said, but the way Dylan smiled at him eased his embarrassment. He smiled back, and started to believe this was really happening.

The car slowed to a stop and Dylan preceded him out, briefly touching the small of his back before leading him into the restaurant.