Lightning split through the dark sky and thunder came shortly after, shaking the earth below. Rhia huddled in her reflective coat, soaked to the bone and freezing. She bounced on the balls of her feet and tried to force her body to warm up. The firefighters were taking their sweet time with the jaws of life. All the urgent cases had already been cleared away from the massive accident, leaving a dozen or so vehicles with occupants waiting to be freed. None of the cars were on fire or in risk of causing any harm. Most of them were just penned in. Given that and the rain, no one was demanding they be pulled out of their warm, dry spaces to be manhandled by E.M.S.

A new set of flashing lights caught her attention and had her turning to watch another ambulance rolling up to the command tent. "Looks like the night shift is here." Michelle, her new temporary partner called over the rain.

Rhia waved to the E.M.T.s as they piled out of the bus. A broad smile stretched across her face as she recognized Ian walking towards her. His pale eyes brightened and ran the last few meters and wrapped her in a hug. "Gods, long time no see." He laughed, pulling back. "How's Maddox? How are you?"

"Maddy's good," she beamed. "He was released from the hospital on Monday. He is a royal pain in the ass patient at home."

"Family is always the worst. But you're back to work! Sucks that you got shoved onto the day shift."

"Worse." She groaned. "After Richard made his little phone call, corporate decided to implement a mental health wellness initiative with a union. After traumatic events, all E.M.T.s and paramedics have to be cleared by a therapist before coming back to work. They haven't figured out the definition of 'traumatic' yet and they can't agree on a therapist, but they can agree that I am a prime example. But they also can't have me sitting on the sidelines indeterminately, so they stuck me on the overlap shift. Monday to Friday, one to six, no weekends, no holidays, no overtime."

"Damn." He whistled. "They just shit all over your double-Thanksgiving-shift plan, didn't they?"

"Yep." She scowled and pulled the jacket tighter around herself, little good it would do. "My mom is very excited to have the whole family over for dinner for the first time in two years. Thanksgiving, the gala, Christmas... I figure after New Years I might be able to wriggle my way back onto the night shift."

"You haven't had dinner with your family in two years?" Michelle asked.

"Eavesdropper." Rhia teased, and the younger woman flushed.

"You'd understand if you knew her family." Ian snorted derisively.

"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad."

Rhia and Ian both laughed harshly. They had worked with Michelle on and off in the last year when she started. She was sweet, naïve, and a bit of an idealist. But she was good at her job, as were most of the people they worked with. "Racist adopted father, even more racist godfather who is a captain for the L.A.P.D.," Rhia counted off on her fingers. "Who are both friends with a doctor who lost his medical license because of unethical practices. There's also my cop brother who can't stand to be around our godfather, his K-9 partner who is way too intuitive, and my sweet, innocent mother, bless her soul, who tries way too hard to see the good in people, even if there isn't any to speak of."

Michelle made a face like she was going to argue again, but she was interrupted by Rhia's phone blasting corny disco music from her pocket. "Seriously?" Michelle snorted as Ian roared with laughter. "Who listens to disco anymore?"

"I had to get a new phone." Rhia's face was burning red. "Maddox had to help me set it up. He thinks he's funny, and I can't figure out how to change it. Hello?"

The greeting came out harsher than she expected and immediately regretted it when Nolan's deep voice came through the speaker. "Sorry," he said hesitantly. "Bad time?"

"No, sorry about that." Rhia squeezed between two cars to step away from even more prying ears. When she felt she was far enough away she continued; "Would it be too sappy for me to say that it's good to hear your voice again?"

He chuckled and a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold rushed through her. "Not at all. I'm sorry for having to cancel on Saturday. Things at the lab just got... crazy."

"You can make it up to me with another dinner. Maybe throw in a bottle of wine older than I am."

"Deal. Come over when you're done work."

Rhia hesitated and looked over her shoulder at the mess. "It's going to be a few more hours. I'm working that big accident in the mountains."

"Luckily for you, I am a very patient man and have plenty of work to keep me occupied until then."

"I'll call when I'm on my way."

"Drive safe."

They hung up and Rhia dialed Maddox's number. "What's up, little siiiiiiis." He answered, sounding higher than the space station.

"Hey, is mom still there?"

"Naaahhhh," he drawled. "She left ten minutes ago to meet with a buyer. I told her you'd be home soon."

"Well, about that. How do you feel about getting a night to yourself?"

"Yes." He suddenly sounded very sober. "Yes, please, yes."

"Wow, love you too."

"Mom has been smothering me since you left. I just want a little me time. I can't do that with my baby sister in the next room."

"I know, I know. I swear, I'm looking for a new place."

"Not what I meant, Rhia." He sighed. "Have fun, okay? And say hi to the good doctor when you see him."

He hung up before she could say anything else. She rejoined the others and tried prayed the cold would hide her persistent blushing. Ian leaned closer, a stupid, knowing smile playing on his lips. "Who was that?"

"Maddox checking in."

His look turned skeptical. "Did you forget that I have magical hearing? Or would that be too sappy?"

She shoved him with her shoulder. "Shut up." she mirrored his smile. "He was one of Maddox's doctors. We had dinner... it was nice."

He leaned his head against hers and his magic curled around her, a tender gesture he confessed only showing to his favourite people. "It's good to see you getting back out there. Promise to call if you need any help?"

She closed her eyes and relaxed into the familiarity of his presence. "He's not Church." She breathed.

"'Not Church' is a very low bar, Rhia."

The sound of ripping metal brought them out of their moment. The firefighters cheered and stepped back to let Michelle and another E.M.T. step forward to carefully pull the occupant free. "Hey!" Someone shouted further down the road. They turned to see another responder waving his light at them. "We found a car that went off the cliff!"

Rhia and Ian started running towards him, weaving between the cars. The responder led them to the edge of the road to another two firefighters already pulling ropes and equipment from their bags. "Why didn't we see this before?" she called over the rain. "We've been here for hours!"

"Don't know," one of them shrugged and threw a harness at each of them. "Doesn't matter now. Suit up."

Rhia looked over the side to see the upside-down car at the bottom of the fifty-foot drop before quickly turning away. "You have got to be shitting me." She forced herself to take several deep breaths.

"You've done this before, right doc?"

The first responder took her harness out of her hands, unclipped the bindings, and wrapped it around her waist, over her shoulders, and reached between her legs with such brusque efficiency there wasn't an opportunity for misinterpretation. "Of course, I have," she tested the straps herself as the man started tying the rope to the metal loops at her midsection. "Doesn't mean I like it."

Ian laughed, his excitement evident in his voice. "You should see her on the choppers!"

"If I were meant to fly, I would have been born with wings!" she snapped back. "You'll at least survive if one of those death machines fall out of the sky!"

"We've got two guys down there trying to get you access. They've reported an adult driver and a child passenger in the backseat. E.T.A. on evac is about fifteen minutes."

With a whoop, Ian leapt backwards off the cliff. Rhia followed, much slower and more tentatively. "Oh, say can you see how boned I am," she sang under her breath. "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, how boned I am..."

Ian laughed again, bordering on maniacal. "Does your new friend know about your horrific singing?" he called from his place much lower on the cliff.

"Suck my dick, fairy boy." She snapped.

"How about we wait to get home to our respective boyfriends before sucking anyone off?"

Her feet finally touched flat ground and she stumbled away, pulling the ropes off her harness. Her nausea began to settle, and her heartrate slowed. She made her way around the car to the driver side as the firefighters pulled off the car door. Ian was already kneeling next to the child who was no more than five, maybe six. Rhia crawled close to the male driver, switched on a penlight, and carefully lifted an eyelid. A glowing violet eye with a vertical slit for a pupil met hers and she jerked back in shock. "The fuck?" she gasped.

"You too?"

"Dragonkin?" she couldn't believe it. "What do we even do for them?"

"They're underage." Ian grunted, trying to get a better angle at the child. "Dragonkin don't have access to most of their magic until their late twenties. They're essentially mortal. Mortal tanks, sure, but they're still vulnerable to trauma and blood loss."

"Okay," she let out a breath and turned back to the other responders. "Call the helicopter. Let them know we have two dragonkin patients. Get them to contact the nearest kin compound and tell them to be ready."

"You're not taking them to the hospital?" one of them asked while the other pulled out his radio.

"What do you think would happen if a dragonkin let off its magic in the middle of a mortal hospital?" she reached around the driver's head and palpated his neck. "Every electronic in the hospital fails. Every person on life support dies. Untold casualties."

The male kin's eyes suddenly flew open and he let out a panicked gasp. "Horus!" he gasped and started struggling.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Rhia shouted over him. "Sir, my name is Rhia, I'm a paramedic, I'm here to help. You need to calm down."

"Horus." He rasped again. "Is he..."

"Deep breath." She told him, and he struggled to suck in a lungful of air. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Etienne... Fabron..."

"Okay, Etienne. I need you to stay very still."

"Please... Is Horus alright?"

Rhia met Ian's eyes. He, with one of the firefighters, had managed to pull the boy out of the car and had him on a backboard. "He's breathing, and his heart is beating strong." Ian called out.

"Hear that? He's okay."

Etienne physically relaxed and his breathing evened. "Thank you." He whispered.

"My partner is taking care of Horus." Rhia rested a hand on his chest and met his impossibly bright eyes. "Let me take care of you now."

She turned her light to look over the rest of his body. The seatbelt was holding strong, but it was the crumpled metal around his legs that was keeping him trapped in the seat. That was when she saw the blood soaking through his jeans, and the jagged piece of metal that ran straight through his thigh.

"Okay, Etienne." She said quietly and pulled a tourniquet out from her bag. "I'm going to put this around your leg. It's going to hurt like hell. Shout, scream, do what ever you need to do, just do. not. move."

He followed her light, and she swore the boy stopped breathing. Carefully she wrapped the cuff around his leg near his groin and twisted it tight. Etienne's eyes widened and he sucked in a choked gasp. She started to back away, but his hand flew out to grab hers. "Please don't go." He sobbed.

Rhia gripped his hand back and met his eyes again. "I'm right here, Etienne." She told him. "I'm not leaving you. But I need to step back so they can get you out of here. Do you trust me?"

He blinked rapidly before frowning in confusion. "Yes..." he finally said slowly.

Rhia nodded and backed out of the car. "Watch his leg." She told the firefighters. "One wrong move and he bleeds out."

In the distance, over the pounding rain and rolling thunder, came the unmistakable whup-whup-whup of the approaching helicopter. There was the sharp clang and groan of metal being cut and bent and the responders carefully lifted the dragonkin onto the backboard. Rhia was back at his side in a second and carefully put his neck in a supporting collar. "What's happening?" he groaned. "Why can't I move my arms?"

"We're strapping you to the board." She explained. "In a few minutes you're going to be loaded into a helicopter and we're going to get you to the compound."

His face went a whole new shade of gray. "No, no, no," he started to struggle. "I can't... Wyrms were never meant to fly!"

"Shhh," Rhia hushed him, taking his hand again. She suppressed a yelp as he gripped her fingers so hard they popped. "Humans were never meant to fly either." She tried to keep her voice calm as ropes were thrown down from the flying deathtrap. "But, we kept trying. We strapped balloons to a basket, built our own wings and gliders, and decided to power our machines with liquified dinosaurs."

His already crushing grip tightened even further. "Don't make me go alone."

"I'll be right behind you."

A pair of strong hands pulled her back and he was lifted into the air. "Your turn, Doc." He shouted over the cacophony of sound.

"Wait, wait, wa-"

Before she could stop him, the clasps were in place and she was hanging freely in the air, screaming and clutching to the rope that was her lifeline. Ian and another operator hoisted her into the aluminum cabin. For fuck's sake, she used aluminum to wrap up her fucking leftovers!

She scrambled over the two stretchers to the middle seat and plastered herself against the wall. Ian let out yet another excited whooping noise as the Trauma-Hawk banked hard and sped away north. "Reminds me of our first ride together, Rhi!" he barked out a laugh. "Gods, I thought you were so cool until you started screaming."

"How about we focus on our patients, please?" she gasped, placing an oxygen mask over Etienne's face. He, too, was starting toe hyperventilate.

"Might want to take a few sucks of that too." He chuckled, moving to check on the younger boy starting to come to. "He can feel your panic. I can feel your panic."

Etienne's hand flew up and she reached out to take it. "We'll be there soon, Etienne." She forced herself to breath in, then out.

~