First Assignment

Writer's note: I promise there will be more smut shortly, but I just get so caught up with the story itself. Anyway, here's the story.

~

"Hello?"

"Hey, Lana, babe," John said over the phone.

"Oh hey!" Lana said, " What's up?"

"I just got some big news," he said, "I got a new job."

"Oh," she said, "That's surprising, for sure. What was wrong with the restaurant though?"

"Nothing was wrong," he said, "I just found a better offer."

"Alright," she said, "Does it pay more?"

"Oh so much more," he said "I don't want to brag about it outright, but it is quite a bit more."

"Oh well, that's good," Lana said, "What, uh, what kind of job?"

How the heck would he explain this.

"It's a... kind of a consulting position," he said.

"Consulting, you mean based on your military experience?" She asked, "Babe you know how I feel about that."

He didn't want to lie to Lana but...

"It's non-combat," he lied, "Don't worry I'm just in an advisory role."

"Well so long as there's no guns and no helicopters involved," Lana said and he winced, "You need to heal your psyche and-"

"Yes, Lana," he groaned, "yes yes. I know."

"Alright I know you get it," she said, "Is it any company I would know?"

"Probably not," he said.

"Well I hope it works out for you, and I hope you made a healthy decision," she said then he heard another voice over the phone.

"Is someone else there?" John asked, "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"Oh no it's fine it's..." Lana sighed and said, "Ok, I wasn't sure how to tell you. I've started seeing someone."

He started seething but kept it to himself and took a deep breath to calm down. They weren't a couple anymore and she was her own woman. Still hurt to hear her say it though.

"Oh," he still said bluntly.

"It's one of the coaches from my school," she said, "It's nothing serious."

He wanted so badly to gloat about how impossibly sexy his new boss was and how he had sex with her already multiple times.

But Lana deserved better than that, so all he said was "Ok. No really, good for you. I've had a casual fling as well recently."

"I appreciate your honesty," Lana said which sting even more than hearing she was dating again.

"Hey, so, is it still ok if we grab lunch sometime," he asked, "I'm out of town right now, but..."

"Yeah totally!" Lana said, "Let me know when you're back, and you tell me all about your new job. Well, everything you can tell me anyway."

"Sure," he said, "See you when I see you, babe." He pinched his nose when he hung up and cursed his luck.

"You ok?" Kristen asked and he flinched.

"Please don't sneak up on me like that," he said, "But yeah I'm fine."

"I'm sorry," she said and slid into a chair next to him. They were in a small lounge in Emura's private hangar. The walls were soundproofed so you wouldn't be bothered by the constant roar of jets outside.

"Is it ok if I ask what that was about?" She asked.

"A bit nosy, but it's fine," he said, "That was, well she was my lady friend. She broke up after I got back from Canada. And now she's dating again."

"Oh, I'm sorry I shouldn't have been nosy," Kristen said. He thought she studied him after that, stared at his muscles a bit too long, then her radio beeped.

"Kristen," she said.

"This is Woods," said the person on the other end, "I am coming in to land."

She smiled and skipped to the window and said, "You are VERY late, General. We did the whole mission without you!"

"Yes, well, we'll compare notes after I've landed," the man said. John went to the window and looked around for the approaching plane. In context, he guessed it was the fighter jet he heard about last night, but he didn't see anything coming in on the runway.

That's when he looked much closer and said, "Oh no way!"

A Harrier was hovering towards them on a short landing path until it stopped mid air and descended to the tarmac.

"Finally," Emura groaned. John hadn't even seen her there, and she sauntered out onto the tarmac followed by Kristen who ran outside to direct the landing crew. John had never seen a jump jet up close before. Of course he never knew dragons existed either, so this weekend had many firsts for him.

The ground crew wheeled a ladder up to the cockpit and the pilot climbed out when the roar of the engines died down.

"You're very late," Emura said, "I expected you yesterday."

"The Americans scrambled fighters and **** me to land," the man said. He was English, though his accent wasn't nearly as posh as freaking Morgan le Fay.

"Then as soon as I landed I was detained by federal agents," he continued, "I was in custody for most of the day until Morgan finally arrived, and then I had to prove that I was the legal owner of this plane! My point is, yesterday was a very long day."

"Alright I get it," Emura held up her hands, "The feds came for us too."

"Well this sting was probably the best they could throw together and it didn't work," the pilot said. Emura motioned to John to come over and introduced him.

"Woods, this is John, our new knight," she said, "Be ready in twenty minutes, then he's going to accompany you on his first assignment."

"Where are we going?" Woods asked.

"You're going to see Amelia," Emura explained, "I need to know if she's betrayed us. Shake her down if you have to."

"Emmy, can't we leave the girl alone?" Woods asked, "Very well."

Emura noticed John's confusion and said, "Amelia is a mystic who owns a little esoterica shop right here in Phoenix. She's the one I paid to distract Coyote last night."

"And it didn't work," he said.

"Maybe she did her best and it wasn't enough," Woods said.

"That's what you two are going to find out," Emura said.

Twenty minutes later John and Woods were bound for downtown Phoenix.

"I'll admit the last thing I expected to see today was a Harrier jet," John said.

"Well, I would have gone for a Typhoon," Woods said, "But Emura really doesn't like the name for some reason. So where did she find you?"

"Emura Ambushed me at the restaurant I used to work at," John said, "I was about to blow her off because I thought you guys were mercenaries."

"Ambushed you?" Woods said, "Yeah that sounds like Emura. There isn't a subtle bone in her body."

"Before that I was army airborne," John said, "What about you?"

"RAF," Woods said as he pulled up to a small shop on a quiet street, "Here we are."

"What can you tell me about this Amelia?" John asked.

"She's a trickster," Woods said, "Don't take anything in there at face value. If she offers you anything, food or drink, anything, politely decline and say, "thank you but I am here on business" in those exact words."

"Got it," John said, "And what's her relationship with Emura and her knights like?"

"She's terrified of Emura," Woods said, "I mean, obviously, but we, the knights I mean, are on gentler terms with her. Just be polite, but confident."

Then they headed inside, and Woods told John to watch the door. A young woman, college or high school age, was reading behind the counter. She glanced up and almost squeaked like a mouse.

"Hello dear," Woods said, "We're here to see Amelia."

"She's not here," the girl said quickly. A little too quickly.

"Well then we'll be on our way," Woods said but as soon as they were outside, he ran to the back of the store and John followed. A back window opened and a large raven hopped onto the window sill. It saw them and tried to fly away.

"Grab the bird!" Woods shouted and they both leapt for it. Woods was too slow, but John grabbed hold of one of its legs. It squawked and screamed in terror while still trying to fly away until he wrapped his hands around its body. It kept flapping uselessly until calmed down and went limp. Then the bird started to grow. Its feathers retreated back into its body everywhere except its head, its wings became hands, and its claws became human feet. A few seconds later, the raven had transformed into a woman. She was very pale in deep contrast to her, well, her raven hair.

"Ok, you win," she said, "Let go of me."

"First promise that you'll answer our questions and won't try to escape," Woods said, "In those exact words."

"Exact words?" John asked.

"She's a raven spirit, a fey," Woods said, "She can't tell an outright lie, but they are masters and twisting the truth."

"I promise I will answer your questions and won't try to escape," Amelia said, "Or harm you. See, I'm cooperating."

John let her go and she brushed oft her pants.

"Last night you were hired by Emura to keep the Great Coyote preoccupied so he wouldn't interfere with a mission," Woods said.

"Well he was very much not preoccupied," John said, "And he very much interfered with the mission. Nearly killed me."

"And yet the word on the street is a mortal struck Coyote with a blow to injure a god," Amelia said and looked John right in the eye, "So it sounds like it worked out in the end."

"Don't change the subject," Woods said, "If you had done your job he wouldn't have even been there."

"I failed," Amelia said, "What else did you expect? He's a god."

"Well if you tried your best and still failed, then you should have nothing to be afraid of," John said, "So why did you run?"

Amelia went completely silent and looked like she was about to panic.

"Just answer this one question," Woods said, "Did you lie to Emura?"

"yes...," she said barely perceptibly.

"Look, Amelia," John said, "You have nothing to fear from us, but you lied to a dragon. Now I'm new at this, but I get the impression that dragons don't take deceotion well. Am I right?"

Woods nodded slowly.

"So let us help you," John said, "Tell us what happened, and we'll put in a good word to her and tell her how cooperative you were."

"I can't..." Amelia said, "I really can't."

"If you refuse to cooperate, then our partnership is dissolved," Woods said, "I'm really disappointed in you, Amelia. You better tell your employees to stay as far away from you as possible. I recomend heading into the desert where Emura's wrath won't cause any collateral damage. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too..." Amelia said as the men walked away.

"What did you make of that?" Woods asked.

"Well I saw Emura's true form last night," John said, "If she wasn't on our side it would have been the most pants-shittingly terrifying thing I've ever seen. So it seemed really strange that Amelia just didn't care."

"Oh she cared," Woods said, "There's just something that scared her even more. I think she was working for someone else."

"Coyote?" John asked.

"Possibly," Woods said, "But it sounds like his respect has taken a beating after last night. Was that you?"

"Um, I guess so," John said, "I mean, Emura just gave me a fancy Norse axe yesterday. I didn't think it was anything I did."

"Regardless, I don't think Coyote is the one she's afraid of," Woods said.

"Well who or what is worse than a fucking dragon?" John asked, "And are we really just going to let Emura incinerate a woman?"

"Not before we find out what she's hiding," Woods said as they climbed back in the van. He didn't drive far, and they stopped at a local park where there weren't too many people around. Woods opened a tote in the back and withdrew a falconers glove, then he whistled a long low note. A moment later a huge golden eagle swooped down and landed on his arm.

"Whoa!" John said and lurched bacward.

It glared at him with menace but Woods snapped his fingers to get the raptor's attention.

"It's fine he's a colleague," Woods said, "I have a request, spirit. Would you please spy on the raven, Amelia, for the rest of the day? If she goes anywhere, please lead us to her. If you do, I promise to pay you with a fresh rabbit."

The eagle appeared to nod, maybe, and flew off out of sight.

"Was that agreement?" John asked.

"We'll find out shortly," Woods said, "Let's go find a rabbit."

The eagle returned a few hours later after they paid a visit to a local reptile shop which sold rabbits to feed to big snakes. The exchange was made, and Woods said the eagle wanted them to follow it. All John could think was that this was a very wierd day.