Dread Wolf (Sebastian)

[Ren Satoshi]

"So, you can see, Minister, why I have some. Your dragon tamers have taken dragon eggs from our territory and released them to some cockamamie sanctuary where they can not possibly be getting the care they need. We have begun to doubt the abilities of your team and especially of their misplaced leader. We are demanding the release of the eggs back into my custody."

The minister looked up at the man claiming to be from some branch of the Egyptian ministry with a wary eye. The Egyptian minister had said nothing to the team that had come to take the eggs to the newly booming sanctuary, and had not sent an owl of complaint. He was beginning to think that this was an elaborate hoax to get at the eggs that the team was working to hatch.

"Well, Mister...Hussein, right? You're more than welcome to speak with the leader of my team, as he did personally make business dealings with your minister this past month. He will be interested to hear what you are...accusing." The minister rose from his chair and moved down the hall, warning people to not let this man leave yet until he returned with the dragon tamer.

The rap of the minister's knuckles on Ren's door brought his gaze up from the mountain of paperwork before he spoke. "Hai, come in." When the minister opened the door, Ren leapt up. "Excuse me, I didn't know it was you! What seems to be the trouble, sir?" The minister hissed softly before shutting the door.

"I think there's an illegal trade dealer in my office, pretending to be from the Egyptian ministry."

Ren's brows lowered. "...wae?"

The minister filled him in with all that had been said, including the accusations that the man had made of Ren dealing the eggs on the side and that his sanctuary did not actually exist. As the minister spoke, he was watching Ren's knuckles whitening as his fists clenched tightly. "Sir, I am liable to seriously hurt him if I must face these accusations again."

"I will not see a thing if you do."

There was a slight look of enjoyment that fluttered on his face before he asked what he was to do. He was to pretend this conversation never happened, and they agreed on a code word. Ren would have time to assess the other male and if he was not from the Egyptian ministry, or was a threat, he would utter it before the Minister would dismiss them and Ren was free to do whatever he wished to him. The illegal dragon trade was sticky business, and for one of their people to have gotten into the Ministry was not a good sign.

The minister returned to his office and took a seat at his desk. "Miss Lowry, please summon Mister Satoshi to my office at once, please?" "Right away, sir." The announcement was sent over the whole building and Ren took his time making his way there, clad in the floor length scarlet trench coat with the hood up. He'd drained the emotions from his face and the smile from his lips before he stepped into the office and fixed the Egyptian with a soulless gaze.

Easiest way to tell, would have been a spark of recognition, there was none. He studied the man silently for a moment before speaking in a deep, cold tone. "Sir?" "This man has a list of serious accusations about the way you and your team have been conducting business. I thought it would be reasonable for him to speak with you personally."

As the Minister spoke, Ren looked over the man's robes. They were the right color, right style of the Egyptian ministry, but something was off. The designs on the hems were backward, the symbols were wrong. Anyone not used to the robes would make a mistake to think him from the Egyptian ministry. Still, he'd like to hear the nonsense floating around the black market.

"Mister Satoshi, we from the Egyptian Ministry believe that you have coerced your way into Egypt and charmed the minister into giving you possession of a few precious eggs of ours to be taken to some Dragon Sanctuary that you have supposedly developed in England. We believe that such a sanctuary, if it does in fact exist, would be poorly kept and sure to be spotted by muggles. The minister has sent me to collect the eggs from you and told me to relay that there will be no more dealings from you in Egypt." The man had unique golden eyes, and a dark tan complexion, a thin build, and stood about the same height as he did. He stood there a moment before sneering slightly.

"Trife."

The minister smiled, "Would you like to discuss this outside my office? I do have another appointment in less than five minutes. Oh, and Mister Satoshi. Feel free to give him a traditional greeting from your family."

In other words, clean his clock.

Ren let the man leave the Minister's Office and shut the door behind him before turning and looking at the other man. He chuckled darkly for just one fleeting moment before he made the swift move of powerfully swinging at the idiot's chest.

The secretary let out a shriek as both grown men went full at each other in fists. Several witches and wizards were watching in pure shock as the fury of their Japanese co-worker was overcoming him. He was moving faster as blows flew until the other man flew back a few feet and landed on the ground with a sickening thud. Ren threw off his gloves and frost was forming between his fingers as he moved and placed a knee roughly into the other man's chest before striking him roughly across the side of the face.

"What faction do you serve?" He hissed darkly, un-phased by the blood from the man's split lip. It took a few more solid strikes before he got the answer he was looking for.

"The-the-the...Crimson Caravan."

He struck again.

"Give me one good reason why I should let your useless hide limp back to the faction."

The man moved swiftly, unable to catch Ren off balance, and received another well placed fist to the chest that coaxed a painful sounding groan from his lips. It was then that the man's fist connected with Ren's face and he felt the familiar rip of skin before his head slowly turned and he gazed with a look that could have killed before bringing his hand back. Ice was building rapidly as a slowly angering Satoshi felt the darkness consuming him. Blood dripped from his cheek and he crooked his head to one side.

"Play nice...or you won't play at all. Want to lose that hand?"

He could easily kill him. So easily.

Things could have ended peacefully, too. However, the dealer managed to palm a blade and strike it roughly between the eldest Satoshi's ribs, ripping a sharp cry from his lips in a mangled sort of tone. Someone else screamed, and Ren's fist came crashing down on the man's temple with an unsettling force as he moved off the man whose consciousness was wavering from that strike. "Azkaban. Now. Take him." He fell off the damned idiot's frame and clenched his fists to try to displace the pain from the blade.

That was cheating. Who palmed a blade in a fist fight...oh, right. He was a damned black market dealer. People were too afraid of Ren to approach him, but they took the other man away to Azkaban. He gave a low groan and swallowed roughly as the dark blood began to soak the trench coat. "Well...this is an inconvenience." His face didn't register the pain, but his eyes were flooded with it. "Someone, get me a list of Crimson Caravan agents seen in the past six months. NOW."

He'd beat down their Merlin cursed door.

[Deleted]

Out of all things that he could have possibly expected to face during his day at work, he had certainly not expected to be dealing with some sort of incident at the ministry just after coming back from an assignment. He had been sitting at his desk, filling out some paperwork when he had heard a scream along with some panicked shouts. It was moments later that the doors to his office were thrown open and a panicked young witch came in with wide eyes, speaking in a panicked tone as her words came spilling out of her mouth. It seemed as though some criminal had infiltrated the Ministry of Magic and had gotten into a fight with one of the Dragon tamers, news that had already caused a strange pang of worry to build up and twist in the depths of his stomach as he rose smoothly from his seat and moved from behind his desk in order to report to the scene of the incident as his job required him to do, keeping a calm and emotionless mask carefully on his face until he reached the scene and saw just who it was that had been hurt and immediately he saw red.

It had taken three wizards to restrain the enraged Hungarian from ripping the Egyptian to shreds when he saw that Ren had been injured by him and was on the floor, with his blood staining his robes turning them an even darker shade of red. There was something that had changed in him upon seeing his boyfriend's blood and his mask had faded as a dark, almost animalistic look appeared in his eyes. Darkness had built up in his chest, whispering forbidden spells in his ear and causing him to lust for blood to be spilled in retribution for Ren's. It took a few moments before he was able to force his darkness back into the depths of his heart as he called out a choked order. " Get this man out of my sight before I rip him apart and get sent to Azkaban in his place." There were short protests coming from his fellow witches and wizards, ones of extra paperwork that they would have to fill out, complaints that were silenced from a single glare from the Hungarian before hurrying to follow his orders.

His lover was hurt, he was not in the mood to deal with their whining.

It was then that he heard Ren calling out for the names of the Egyptian's caravan, wanting to have information on the ones that had caused him problems and it was then that his face fell blank again before he walked carefully over to Ren, bending down at his side so he could get a better look at his wound. It took a moment before he came to a conclusion and he carefully moved closer to Ren, gathering the shorter man into his arms as gently as he possibly could in order to avoid upsetting his wound even further. " I want the highest ranking healer in my office as soon as possible to check out and heal this man's wound, along with two copies of whatever information that Ren has asked for. I expect nothing less than the most detailed of lists, now get to doing what I've asked or you will have some serious problems in your future." That last statement was greeted with another cold and powerful glare before Sebastian turned and slowly made his way back to his office, where upon reaching the secure room he carefully laid the man on the small couch that he had inside of his office, gazing at him with an unreadable gaze for a moment before his gaze fell back to his wound. " I'm sorry if I did not do exactly what you wanted, but I would feel better if you get your wounds healed before you take any further action." He did not want anything else to harm Ren and he knew that the other would be at a huge disadvantage if he went after the caravan while injured. " I'm sorry that I could not stop this from happening and that you got hurt. If I could take your place and take your pain for myself, I would do so in a second."

[Ren Satoshi]

He'd put on a decent facade until shut safely behind Sebastian's door, and in the momentary silence, he caught the tears leaking from the outer corners of his eyes and he swallowed roughly. "Ah...I hesitated. I could have crushed him like a bug, there would have been no chance to palm a blade." Had this been fifteen years ago, there would have been no pause, only a body bag, a chalk outline, and a lot of paperwork. Had it been then, the blade never would have reached him. He shifted slightly on the couch where he lay and upset the penetration, making him stifle a cry.

"Merlin's bloody balls...that hurts. I didn't want anyone to see that it hurt. I have a reputation, you know?" A playful smile wavered across his lips, "Don't go telling everyone that I cried, or I'll tell them that you still turn red when I kiss you." His chest rose and fell swiftly in a chuckle that quickly fell short. He was obviously joking, a ruse to distract himself from the pain radiating from his torso.

Bloody hell. Was that blade curved?! It felt that way!

His gaze settled on the Hungarian and he found a quiet smile slipping across his lips, "Thank you. I was too proud to ask for a healer. I'd have kept moving and kept upsetting it if you wouldn't have helped me." He really was lucky to have someone as level headed as Sebastian around. Ren was always quick to act, while Takumi thought beforehand. Another polar opposite thing. Ren was too passionate to think sometimes.

Tongue swept over lips swiftly before he shut his eyes and spoke again. "The Crimson Caravan. They caused a mess of trouble for the Russians not long ago. Their operatives try to keep track of any dragon eggs in the global expanse and try to track them down to sell illegally before any tamers can track them down." He took a shuddering breath before looking up at him again. "Notoriously ruthless, obviously, they've been getting more organized in the past couple of years. Taking out Ministry workers and Polyjuice potioning them, or, trying to mimic ministry workers without much knowledge of who's working there. I don't think he banked on me spotting him as a fake."

The healer knocked and entered swiftly before bowing quickly to both and moved to Ren's side and insisted on inspecting the wound despite Ren's protests. She unfastened the coat and slid up the underlying black shirt that had clung to the muscles in his torso to expose a myriad of defined muscle. Tight obliques contracted as she pulled the material up to a well toned pectoral that was tattooed with the words 'Deferto Neminem' and beneath it read 'Always keep the faith'. His stomach was smooth, without much frontal definition, but the obliques were ripped. The pale skin was tinted with red between his upper ribs and freshly wounded muscle kept seeping blood as he tried to move to displace the ache.

She insisted he lay still and he sucked in his breath and squeezed his eyes shut. Why was it so hard to stay still when hurt? She pulled out her wand and began to cast healing spells to heal the wound from the innermost point. After a few moments, he seemed to relax and allowed the healer to finish her work without wiggling and protesting. His breathing steadily slowed and he felt his facial expression ease to relaxed as the pain became more tolerable.

Thank...Merlin.

[Deleted]

He listened to the other man as he spoke, lips falling to form a frown when he saw the years that fell from his eyes as a result of the pain that he was in. While he was relieved that Ren had not been cross with him for ordering that he be seen by a healer before getting to work, he was also troubled by the tears that fell from Ren's dark eyes. The very presence of those small drops of salty water was enough to make his heart ache, a feeling that he found he did not like in any way. He did not like seeing Ren cry, he found that tears did not suit him and found that he would much rather see the man smiling. It was with that realization that a strong but gentle hand moved to brush against Ren's cheek, a single finger wiping the tears away with a touch as light as a feather. His brow furrowed slightly at Ren's words before he spoke again, eyes averting and looking at the floor as his cheeks colored in embarrassment from his words. " I would never tell another living soul that I saw you cry because I don't like seeing you cry and I don't know what I would do if I ever saw another trying to make you do so." He would probably lose his cool again and do everything within his power to ensure that whoever was trying would end up in the intensive care unit at St. Mungos and while the idea was appealing there was also a part of him that was extremely weary to show that side around Ren, not wanting the other man to hate him when he found out that such a dark side existed within his heart and soul.

There was a reason that others feared him and called him a monster after all .

It took a moment before Ren's words caused him to look up with a small smile as it crossed his lips. A hand moved to gently take Ren's within his own, gently cradling the smaller hand within his own before he spoke again. " I will always help you when I think you need it, even if you don't ask for it. You are precious to me in a way that very few people are, I would never forgive myself if something bad happened to you because I did not help you in time." He had already lost two of his precious people in the past to death because he had not been there in time to help them, he would not lose Ren in the same way and while he knew that he was more than capable of protecting himself, he would still do all in his power to protect Ren to ensure that he was not hurt, to ensure that those tears would not fall from his eyes as long as Ren allowed him to be in his life.

When he spoke again, this time he told Sebastian about the people who had harmed him, something that made his eyes narrow and his jaw clench as he listened carefully to what was said to him about the criminals. It seemed that they were very ruthless, something that was made obvious by the way that one of their workers had harmed him inside of the Ministry. " I see. From what I've seen one of their men do to you and from what you've told me, it seems that they are not to be taken lightly. Because you were attacked inside of the Ministry by one of their members, they have moved up in the ranks and now I am sure that they will have some of the aurors looking into them as well. The good thing about that is that it should be easier for my men to get the information back to you faster." It was then that they heard a knock on the door and he called out, giving them permission to enter his office before moving away as he saw the healer enter, not wanting to get in her way as she healed Ren.

He watched with careful eyes as she went about her job, carefully healing Ren with her magic. His eyes moved from her to Ren, wanting to ensure that he was not suffering in any other way, only relaxing when he saw Ren's face relax. It took a few moments of her gentle healing before the wound finally closed up, seemingly healed from the inside out and she left with another quick bow. It was then that Sebastian moved back down to his side to look over the side where his wound had once been. " How do you feel, Ren?"

[Ren Satoshi]

"Better. Much better." He ran a hand carefully over the spot where the pain had been just a moment before before blanching and sitting up sharply. "Did it scar?" 

Damn it! This disorder really made him seem like a vain prick! He stood up and looked down at the side of his stomach, almost panicked. Please, Merlin, no scars. Please, no scars. He studied the spot for a few moments and saw no skin discoloration or texture change before heaving a sigh and pulling his shirt back down over his skin. "I'm so sorry about that. My brain is an odd place to be some days. This condition of mine really...makes it difficult." He sat back down, a bit less gracefully than he intended to, and clasped both slightly shaking hands near his forehead. In the light of the sun, those frost patterns were something...truly graceful. Sweeping curves twisted up his arms, covering the skin in beautiful pale markings that blended and twisted together. It was the first time he had not had on a long sleeved shirt, or his coat on since meeting Sebastian.

He didn't even notice.

Carefully he lay back down on the couch, laying an arm over his eyes for a moment, he seemed to be uttering in a low, quiet tone. Trying to silence the demons that were plaguing his mind. In the darkness behind his eyes, he could see so many horrid things that his mind wanted him to believe was his body. His mind would have him believe that he was absolutely repulsive.

It took a long while before he'd settled his mind to a rational state and quickly he reached into the inside pocket of his coat and shook out two sky blue pills and popped them into his mouth and swallowed without the aid of liquid, an obviously practiced gesture. "Merlin, my mind is not going to shut up and I bloody need to focus."

He was shaken by the sound of a knock at the office door again, but relaxed immensely when he heard the voice behind the door as it spoke, "Sir, I have information for you." In that one instant, Ren was on his feet and all but sprinting to the door. "Kida. Thank the bloody fates." He whipped the door open and was promptly knocked backward by a flying leap by a purple dragon that reached his waist now. "OOF!"

The dragon licked his face unrelentingly, and he quickly saw the panic leaving his mind and what few gasping breaths he took were quickly replaced with giggles. "Ochitsuku!! Ha ha ha! Ochitsuku!!" (Calm down!! Calm down!!) Kida knelt down and spoke again, "Sir. Information? We were alerted on Lundy about the Crimson Caravan attack, and a few of our informants were more than happy to leak a little information about the current locations of Caravan operatives in the area." He held a few dossiers and placed them in a neat order on Sebastian's desk.

The top one was flipped open and he spoke again. "The one that the Ministry has in custody right now is a bloke by the name of Murdoc. John Murdoc. He's wanted in Scotland for the disappearance of a few members of one of their local tamer teams and the disappearance of a Hebridean Black that people think was slain." From the floor, there was the sound of a low growl and when he looked over, the dragon was nuzzling a nearly animalisticly angered Ren. "Slain?" The word was spat.

"I should have killed him."

"It is not your place to exercise judgement on him, sir, with all due respect. You're losing your temper again."

Ren took a deep breath and drew up to his feet, the dragon decided to act as a mount and slid beneath him to let him rest comfortably. He looked down at those gleaming amber eyes and softened quickly. This cute little bastard.

"You're right. My apologies. Continue."

Kida cleared his throat and the dragon moved to stand by Sebastian and Ren leaned his head to settle on his side. He had to keep his wits about him. "He's fairly low on the chain-" "Great..." The word dripped with sarcasm. "He's below a bloke by the name of..." He flipped open the next dossier and scanned the information. "Mackey. Kennedy Mackey. Wanted in Peru for turning the local Vipertooth population on a village of indigenous muggles."

"Mackey...is a tamer?" For a moment, he looked absolutely horrified that a fellow tamer was working for an illegal trade faction. "The only to surpass a Peruvian's craving for human flesh, sir." He read through the dossiers to them, moving up the rankings from Mackey, to DiNassi, Laurent, Larsen, Vincento, but when he reached the top of the chain, he stammered and shut the dossier.

"What? Who's at the top of the chain?"

Kida's lips pursed tightly and he shook his head. "Sir...I can't tell you. There will be a conflict of interest."

Ren sighed, "Tell me. I can handle it."

Quietly, Kida sighed and eased open the dossier. When he spoke, his voice was thin. "The leader of the Crimson Caravan...is Takeda Akio." The name hit Ren harder than it probably should have. The instant it fell on his ears, the air forced itself out of his lungs.

Akio rolled over onro his stomach and finally looked down at him, "Ren...are you upset about something?"

"...No, why do you think that?"

"You've been so quiet since I told you about...you know..."

Ren's eyes spaced again, drowning out the sound of Akio's sweet tenor. He'd been so tempted to beg En for just once chance, just one, he wouldn't be so dramatic, he'd stop with the makeup, anything...

"Ren!"

"Yes?"

"I need to know something."

"Yes?" He said again.

"Do you even love me?"

Automatically, he responded, "Yes..."

"Then kiss me. Not those cheap little kisses you always give. Kiss me."

Ren's head shook. "Please tell me that is a typo." "No sir, I'm...very sorry, sir. Should we leave this to another team, sir?"

Even though he should have said yes, even though this was going against what he believed in...he shook his head. "I've created this monster...I have to stop him." He buried his face into Sebastian's side to make sure neither could see the look on his face. This was going to be hard. Very, very hard.

Kida looked almost wounded to have had to reveal this information to him and shut the dossier. "I will assume that all of this is personal then, sir?"

"It appears that way, Kida...thank you. Ready the team. We will work our way up the list."

Why Akio? Why?

He looked up finally and grabbed the dossier and opened the cover, staring blankly at the picture of his former lover with an unreadable expression. What did he do to him? What had he done?

Kida left the office to do as he was told and Ren's head hung slightly, looking at how he had aged and the viciousness that had eaten the sweet warmth from his eyes. He was not the same as he had been. He shut the dossier and looked up at Sebastian. "This...is unexpected, and also complicates things. I...am not sure how to handle this. If you help me, you'll be marked a target. I don't want his mark on you."

[Deleted]

He was relieved to hear that Ren was feeling better than he had when he had been stabbed by the Egyptian, that was enough to quell the ache that had built up in his heart, though he was quickly brought back to his previous concerned state when he watched the younger man react to the very idea of having a scar form on his skin as a result if the attack on him. While he had known of Ren's disorder, he had not known just how badly it was capable of affecting him until he saw the other's hands trembling as he tried to calm himself down before pulling out some pills and swallowing them dry. It was a long moment later that the medicine began taking effect and Ren had calmed down, much to Sebastian's relief. It was a moment later that there was a loud knock on his office door and he watched as Ren jumped up to answer the door, smiling when he saw the dragon that he had previously seen with Ren jump on him and attack him with kisses and committing the endearing sight to his memory.

The small moment of joy was short lived, for it was only moments later that Ren's teammate began to relay information to the two men. Sebastian leaned against the wall in his office as he listened to the information that was given, committing each and every detail to his memory. The names, their rankings and offenses were quickly memorized and while he winced slightly at the news that a dragon had likely been slain and that dragons had been released on an island that was full of defenseless muggles, perhaps the thing that had captured his attention the most was the way that Ren reacted to the news and how angry the other male became at the news. Indeed that had managed to capture his attention for a full minute before a single name was uttered and everything seemed to unravel.

Akio Takeda.

Someone would have had to be blind not to see the reaction that both Ren and Kida had to that one name. It was completely obvious that Ren had some sort of previous ties with the man that led the caravan of criminals and yet he honestly could not bring himself to question the younger male as he curled into his side, hiding his face from both of the other two so they could not see the expression on his face. It was obvious that he was in pain and yet there was absolutely nothing that Sebastian could do about it, something that caused that familiar feeling of ache to build up in his heart again. When they were left alone and Ren spoke to him again he was greeted with a soft sigh before the Hungarian gently clasped Ren's hand in his own. " I don't know just what it was that happened between the two of you but it is obvious that it causes you pain. I worry that with the emotional attachment that you have to this case, something might happen to you." His gaze moved from Ren to the floor. " Ren, I have been trained to handle situations like this, bringing in wizards like this is my job and it is because of this, I am well prepared for emergency situations like this. However, if you truly do not wish for me to be involved, I will respect your wishes, all I ask is that you at least allow me to send some aurors with you to help." All he wanted was to keep Ren safe. Hopefully, he would allow him even one of the two options.

[Ren Satoshi]

Fingers gently caressed over Sebastian's hand as he took in a breath. "Sebastian...I suppose it should come out. Akio Takeda...is my ex. It's been almost 17 years, but things did not end well. A lot of painful things were said. It was my fault as usual." He rested his forehead against the back of Sebastian's hand. "Back then I was caught up on the loss of my best friend, my first love, and Akio was always trying so hard to make me forget. Two years later, he told me that he'd heard that my former friend was due to be getting married and it...well, it hit me hard. Then it all spiraled after that. Next thing I knew, I called him the wrong name...he said that that person never loved me, that even he couldn't stand to see me again and I snapped and told him I never wanted him."

That was the last he'd heard. "I immediately fled to London, the gate barely closed behind him before I was gone. I just couldn't be there. From what I heard when I returned, he'd been seeking me, threatening my family, getting more angry as time elapsed. Now...he's looking to hurt me in any way possible. By going after dragons, he harmed the creatures I care for. I never noticed. He sent ring members to abduct my daughter. They didn't make it back. But, now he's skipping the rest and going right for me."

He'd get Sebastian too if he got his way.

But, as Sebastian had said, he was trained for this. He couldn't do this alone. "Come with me." He looked up at him, rising to near his gaze. "Please. I can't do this without you. I need you. I need to know that you are safe and he can't get you in secret if you are with me. I'll watch your back...if you watch mine." He was holding his gaze as intently as he was able, beseeching him to aid him just this once.

[Deleted]

Ren had his upmost attention as he spoke, telling him just what had happened between him and Akio all those years ago. The two men had been lovers in the past and it seemed as though things had not ended well for the two of them, something that had caused the other male to become the man that he was today. The story that he was told was one that was heavy with the pangs of his heartache and Sebastian stood quietly for a moment before he moved and wrapped his arms carefully around Ren, holding him close for a moment. His heart ached for his poor boyfriend and it hurt him to know that he had been so heartbroken in the past. It hurt to know that he was still hurting, even now and it hurt to know that Ren would have to face one of the sources of that heartache again in such a horrible way. His heart ached for his love and he wished for nothing more than to shield Ren from his pain, from his memories and from the horrible reality of this situation. Alas he could not, all that he could do was hold him for that small moment and speak soft words of comfort in his ear. " Ren, I am so sorry about all of this mess. I am so sorry that you had your heart broken not only once but twice, no one deserves that sort of pain, especially not someone like yourself."

Those two men were fools, not to realize just what they had done, just what they had lost when they had broken the heart of someone as wonderful as Ren.

As Ren continued on with his story that heartache, that sadness that he had felt for Ren had given way to his anger as he was told about the things that Akio had done in order to try and hurt Ren. He had threatened his family, had gone after dragons in order to harm the creatures that Ren cared the most about, had even sent people to try and abduct Ren's daughter and now he was going after Ren again, something that caused his blood to boil. What he was doing something that was completely despicable and the fact that he was going as far as to try and harm both dragons and an innocent child was unforgivable.

When Ren spoke again, this time moving up to glance at him and ask for his help with this problem he moved his gaze from the floor to glance back at Ren with a softened gaze in his eyes. " Ren, you need not even ask for my help, of course I will go with you. I will always have your back for as long as I am allowed to be by your side. I will always be there for you when you need me to be, when you need my help. I promise you that."

[Ren Satoshi]

His fingers rose up and gently skimmed along his jaw as a soft smile crept over his lips. "I knew I could count on you, Sebastian. I love you." There was a softness in his voice upon spilling those three little words and his eyes softened and he leaned up before kissing him softly. "And I mean that with all my heart. I do love you." 

He smiled softly before moving to the dossiers and studying them. "It would be wisest to start from the bottom and work up because going straight for Akio would be foolish. The others would come to aid him. Kennedy Mackey was last seen in Dublin. He's going to be fairly easy for us to coerce. But, the others...we won't be so lucky." He looked from the dossier and back to his boyfriend and a warm smile came across his lips before he perched up on the edge of his desk and looked up at him from that spot.

"I'm ready to start when you are, my love. My team should be assembled and ready. Do you want anyone to come with you?" He comfortably leaned back on his hands and smiled over at him. "You know, Sebastian, any heartache that I ever felt just melts away whenever I look at you. No matter how much pain I have felt, it means nothing when you're near. You make me happier than I ever have been in my life. The fact that it's returned..." 

With a flourish, his hand rose up to his heart. "It's wonderful. Beautiful. Just so you know." He chuckled softly before moving from the desk and picking up his coat before casting a spell to draw the blood from the material. and return it to its former cleanliness. 

[Deleted]

The second that he felt Ren's gentle touch on his face, his eyes immediately fell closed as he leaned into that soft touch enjoying every single minute if it while the contact remained. While he was usually a shy person that tended to avoid physical contact when it was not needed, Ren was a special exception. Every single time that he was hugged or his hand was held by the smaller male, there was a fluttering feeling of happiness, a small light that formed inside of his chest that chased all of his own heartache and darkness away. It was a special feeling that was caused by an equally special person to him and he found himself hoping against all odds that this feeling would never end for him. It was the first bit of happiness that he had had in almost sixteen years and there was a part of him that was against giving it up if he absolutely did not have to. Ren was special to him for he was the first person that had ever held, the first person that he had ever kissed. Ren was the first person that had managed to capture his damaged heart in his hands and he was the first person that he had loved since the death of his closest family.

The fact that he loved Ren was something that was easy to accept, though it was the idea that Ren might love him back that was difficult for him to accept. When Ren confessed his love for him, Sebastian looked at him with a surprised gaze and rapidly coloring cheeks that darkened even further when his eyes caught that soft look that Ren was looking at him with. His lips were captured in a soft kiss by the younger and smaller male for a short moment before he pulled away smiling at him so softly and with such affection that he could feel the last of those icy walls that surrounded his heart slowly melt away as he gave his heart to Ren completely in that moment. " I love you too Ren. The words were muttered softly, seriously in a quiet tone that ensured that only Ren would be able to hear what he had said. Words and declarations of love were something that Sebastian had always taken seriously for he had always been surrounded by the strongest, purest forms of love that he could remember for his entire life.

His grandfather's love for his grandmother, [ despite the fact that he was an evil man, though that was a story for another time] his uncles for his aunts, his father for his mother, his brother for Daphne and Daphne for her children. Hell, it seemed as though even Artemis had found that strong sort of love with that girl he had seen him with! It was something that he had always secretly wished for in the depths of his heart and as he gazed at Ren, there was a part of him that fluttered with the hope that he had finally found it with someone who was precious to him.

Ren spoke to him and he was shaken from his thoughts as he strived to listen to what was said to him. It was true that it would be foolish for them to go directly after Akio when it would be much easier for them to take out those who were beneath him first. It seemed as they would go after a man named Mackey because at the moment he was the easiest for them to go after. The others would be more difficult, something that was obvious and yet he could not find himself to be displeased about it for he always enjoyed completing the more difficult missions for one reason or another. When Ren asked if he wished to bring anyone else along with them, he thought about it for a moment before slowly shaking his head." No, with all of us we should have more than enough to get this done smoothly even if we do manage to run into problems." Even if worst came to worst he was sure that they would all be fine in the end. He would not allow Ren or his teammates to be hurt.

When Ren spoke again he listened, smiling softly at what he was told. He was glad that he could help Ren forget about the heartache and the other things that plagued his mind. He was happy that he could make Ren happy and there was a part of his heart and soul that was soothed by that information and he fell quiet for a meant before he spoke again." I'm glad that I can help you forget the pain that you have and that I can make you happy because you do the very same thing for me. These past sixteen years of my life have been miserable and I had no hope that they would get better and then I met you and my life seemed to change. I believe that you saved me on that day and because of that I will always be in debt to you." Ren had helped him in more ways than he could ever imagine, had saved him from his own form of heartache. He would always be grateful to him for the rest of his life." Thank you Ren, for everything." He moved behind Ren and helped him put on his coat before giving him a small smile and gently taking his hand in his gently squeezing it for a moment before letting it go and walking over to his office door, opening it and holding it open for Ren. " Shall we go?"

[Ren Satoshi]

As his coat was slid up onto his shoulders, Ren glanced backward at Sebastian and smiled happily at him. That simple gesture of helping him with the coat was one that he'd always wished to be on the receiving end of for most of his life. Those little things always meant more to him than the sometimes outlandish things that he often did to show people that he loved them. Perhaps it was his personality to be on the flashy side, but hey, no complaints yet.

When asked if he was ready to go, he smiled and nodded, letting his fingertips trail over the material of Sebastian's coat on the way out the door. "You mean, am I ready to bring some swift justice to some evil do-ers with my amazing boyfriend? Count me in, love. Sounds like a date to me." He winked playfully and smiled up at him before looking down at his hands. Where did his gloves go? He hesitated for just a moment, before finally realizing that it didn't matter that the markings showed. Heck, if he had to use his elemental magic, this was easier.

Once in the Atrium, they appirated to Dublin with Kida and Mueller following behind. There was a method to their appirating and soon a team of six was moving through the city in pairs, seeking out Mackey. Kida and his partner, Jun, covered the western part of the city. Mueller went with Gutenberg through the east, leaving Ren and Sebastian to move through the north. If Mackey moved south, he would have to pass someone. Ren curled an arm around Sebastian's waist, "Try to relax. Mackey's a bit of a...well...he's an eccentric one. And that's coming from me." 

That was as much of an 'act natural' as he could get. He glanced over at Kida, who was leaned back calmly reading a paper and casting a heavy glance over the pages before pulling Sebastian ahead and looking into one of the windows of the shops, but his focus was on the glass, in the reflection. He was easily watching the faces of any passers by without them being aware of such. 

Time was passing without so much of a peep and they had moved up several blocks and Ren was getting antsy. "Where is that prick?" As if in answer, there was a shower of sparks from the East and Mueller came sprinting over from that direction. "What's wrong?"

"He...he's got the Peruvian with him. In the bluffs. Gutenberg's hawk spotted them."

Ren paled. Of course Mackey brought the dragon. He didn't bring anything to be prepared for that breed's ferocity. However, he had an idea and it was etching its way onto his face. "No. Don't you dare..." The German hissed quietly as Kida and Jun approached. "We aren't equipped to handle an Adult Peruvian without a full team, Jakob. You know this."

"Sir...I really must say that if you're hinting at what it sounds like you're hinting at...this is madness." Ren looked at Kida and smiled pleasantly, "Noted, Masaharu. Now, anyone else? Akira? Joseph?" Jun (Akira) spoke up. She was the only woman on Ren's team, but she was quite tomboyish, with short black hair and green, almond shaped eyes. "Sir, I have to agree, it is dangerous, but...I think if anyone could pull it off...it might be you, sir." Kida shot her a look and Gutenberg (Joseph) finally spoke. He was a young wizard still, blonde hair in a sleek ponytail and blonde stubble of a beard, but he spoke quietly. "I believe in you, sir."

Ren smiled to both of them, then looked to Sebastian. "Opinions, love?"

[Deleted]

He was happy when his small gesture of affection were not frowned upon, so much so that he couldn't stop the small smile that crossed his lips before it happened. This relationship was something completely new to him and he was still learning more and more as time went on, both about Ren and about himself. When answered his question with the almost silly response that he had given, he couldn't help but laugh quietly, amused with the words that his lover said so openly to him. If he was even remotely serious about this being something similar to a date for the two of them, then there was something that told him that he and Ren were going to end up having a very interesting sort of relationship as time moved on and they got to know each other better, though those were thoughts that were perhaps better saved for a day when they were not busy hunting down criminals.

It was moments later that they reached the Atrium and another moment before the familiar feeling of rushing through space washed over him as he apparated to Dublin alongside his boyfriend, the two of them immediately moving into their positions the minute their feet met solid ground. An arm was wound securely around his waist as Ren led him to the window displays of one of the many shops, seemingly peering inside though it was obvious that he was only looking through the glass to watch the reflections of the people that passed by the shops, trying his hardest to spot the man that they were after as quickly as possible, something that despite even their best efforts would take longer than they had previously dared to think. It would take a series of long moments and several blocks later before they would be alerted of anything unusual, with a series of sparks being the alert that they received from the east as greeting.

It was then that they were approached by none other than Muller and were given the news that the man that they were after had brought the dragon with him, news that made Sebastian's blood run cold as soon as he heard it. Dark eyes swept along the streets, taking in the form of the innocent civilians that wandered about their way with carefree smiles on their faces, painfully oblivious to the fact that their lives were endangered at the moment. Not only were the team of six in danger because of their target's carelessness but these people were as well. They could be injured, could be killed if things were not handled as quickly and smoothly as humanly possible and it was in that moment that Ren called to him, asking for his opinion when he had captured his attention, something that made him truly think as his eyes narrowed in careful thought.

He did not like the look on Ren's face, for he knew that it meant that Ren would be doing something very dangerous very soon and yet he knew that he was in no position to doubt Ren, a man who had years of experience with the creatures that they would be dealing with and it was with a sigh that he consented, speaking in a calm tone that betrayed none of the worry that he felt for his lover." I don't know exactly what it is that you are planning, but I know that it's going to be dangerous and while I am not thrilled, I'm in no position to doubt you or your skills. You have your teammates' trust and that is enough for me. I have your back and I will support what it is that you choose to do." He was not worried for he had a few tricks of his own that were up his metaphorical sleeve, ones that when combined with his natural affinity for both defensive and offensive magic would surely keep Ren safe even in a situation when they were both in serious danger.

[Ren Satoshi]

For about thirty seconds, Ren was quiet, scanning the skies and the cliffs to the far east. "Gutenberg, estimated distance between here and the target's location?" The blonde looked the same direction and said quietly, "About 15,000 meters, sir. Nearly three miles." Ren nodded, folding his arms over his chest, thinking deeply on the best way to begin this madness. He was uttering equations on dragon size and wing span, wind direction, and evacuation possibilities before straightening up and clearing his throat.

"I have a plan. I need two of you to stay down here, Jun, Mueller, please. You two are most level headed under fire. If I fail at this, evacuate the city by any means necessary. Gutenberg, I need you to be my eyes. Have your hawk trace Mackey. If this draws him out, Kida, nab him. Sebastian, love, I need you with Kida. What I'm doing could get ugly if I mess up, I need you all to be sharp, and remember, I do know what I'm doing. I just hope I can do this quickly." He checked his pockets for everything he needed, tugging the strand of glass beads that had been in his hair around his neck. "Jun, Mueller...watch for my signal. Green is the all clear as always. Red...well, pray it's not red. And do NOT forget my symbol. If you just see sparks, it could be a trick." They both nodded, as did the others. He looked up at Sebastian. "Green symbol, looks like this." He lifted the edge of his hair off the base of his neck and displayed the tattoo, allowing him a moment to memorize the symbol before saying, "Stick together. I'm counting on you to cover me."

With that, he appirated away.

Kida swore loudly, "Even if he knows what he's doing, trying to overpower a tamer's hold on a dragon like that...is madness."

Ren popped back up on the edge of one of the bluffs and studied the drop with a slight wavering breath. Oh, yes...he must be crazy for this. Absolutely bloody nuts. He took a deep breath and made his move toward one of the inset caves and made a low chirp sound in the back of his throat. Louder, louder he made that sound until a pair of red eyes glowed within the dark and began to move quickly toward him. He was already ready, ready to jump. Peruvians were fairly small, but it was still a good 9 feet larger than he was.

Suddenly, he was sightened. Smooth coppery scales, black ridges atop its head, and short little nubby horns and rows...and rows...of sharp venomous teeth. It snapped its wings open and lunged at his side, only to grip the air as he ducked and swerved away from it. "Now, you listen! Settle!" His tone was low, dangerous, but the dragon did not heed and snapped again, making him tuck and roll over and get back onto his feet.

"I said...stop." Ren thrust a hand out and socked the dragon between the eyes. It blinked, roared loudly and took off running to the edge of the bluff with the tamer on its tail. "Oh no you don't! I'm not done with you!" As the dragon snapped its wings open to take off, it was greeted by the weight of the tamer and swerved madly to buck him or bite him, whichever he could do first.

The ruckus had not stirred Mackey, and Gutenberg's hawk circled again to watch for movement.

The dragon tucked its wings, content in trying to scare the tamer away, but the instant it turned to bite him again, it was struck again and Ren bore a wild gaze into its eyes. "Do you want to kill us both?" The dragon lunged again and Ren delivered a well timed kick to the front of its teeth. "Either fly, or I will be content to kick you in the teeth until we both decorate the pavement." That dragon saw no fear in the tamer's eyes, and as they continued to plummet and Ren could see the ground, he swallowed. "That's it then? You're condemning us to death."

The dragon gave a loud roar and twisted upright and started flying upright, still exceedingly wary of the tamer, but Ren had a tight grip on one of his horns and was sitting on one of the dark ridges quietly. "You're a long way from home, yes? Did Mackey take you from your family?" Amidst the growling of the beast, he had learned to distinguish the sounds into near conversation. "Listen, I will take you home if you help me out here, got it? Just make enough noise to lure out that man and he won't hurt you any-" Ren noticed a deep looking cut on the dragon's head and frowned.

Damn. This guy had some issues. "Does this hurt you?" He pressed near the cut and the dragon roared so loudly that the very earth shook. "I have something for that. Hold your head still." The dragon made a sharp turn and clung to the rock on the bluffs, sending the tamer slipping down its body. Ren was grabbing at anything he could find to stop the falling, when the small tail of the dragon shipped out and grabbed him by the waist and held him upside down over his head.

Kida was shaking, watching the hawk, trying to not think of what his boss was doing when the hawk made a series of loud shrieks. "Sebastian, we have to move. Mackey's fleeing!" He took off toward the base of the bluffs where one could barely make out the sight of a red hemmed black robe retreating quickly.

Ren was staring into those red eyes, immobilized. "It wont hurt, doesn't smell bad, and heals on contact. I promise, or you can eat me." The dragon stared at him before lowering him to the back of his head. He pulled out a lavender infused healing salve from his inner coat pocket and slowly rubbed the cooling balm onto the cut. It was quickly disappearing and the dragon seemed less tense. "There, all better. You know, I can't be upside down like you can. Can I be right side?" The dragon sprang back from the rocks and set the tamer back on his back, where he walked up to be near his head.

"That city there, let's get away from it. First, let me send a signal to my friends. It's loud, so don't worry. It won't hurt you." He drew his wand and set up his green symbol. It was amazing how taming dragons that were under another tamer's control could be a balancing act. First, you had to show no fear, dominate, gain trust, and then keep it. ALWAYS in that order. The dragon looked back at the bluffs and roared bitterly.

"If you promise to not attack anyone, we can go back to the bluffs." The dragon seemed happy to hear that and turned to head back that way. The way that this tamer shifted with his flight pattern and was actually nice to him...hell, he liked this tamer. Ren leaned close into the back of the dragon's head. "Uh oh, he's getting away. Block him off!"

The dragon surged forward and landed the length of a football fiend from a fleeing Mackey with a savage growl. Ren snarled from his place at the wizard. "Leave the stove on, Kennedy?"

[Deleted]

He was given his directions by Ren and was shown the signal that he would be given when Ren had managed to succeed in his own task and took a quick moment to memorize the detail of the tattoo that was on the back of his lover's neck before that tattoo was recovered and he apparated away and they were left to their own devices, waiting for some sort of sign that would grant them the permission to move. While he was worried for the safety of Ren, he knew full well that his full attention was needed in order for them to capture the dragon tamer so for the moment, all thoughts of the other were pushed to the very back of his mind as he glanced up at the sky, waiting for something to show up before his gaze fell to the other man who looked downright nervous just from thinking about what it was that Ren was doing with the dragon and for a moment his gaze was focused on the other man as he tried to think of some way to rid him of the anxiety that he felt only to be torn from his thoughts when he heard the shrieks from the hawk, alerting him that his target was on the move.

Quickly he reached into his pocket and drew out his wand as he ran after Kida, easily catching up to him in minutes and matching his pace as the two of them chased after the fleeing pair of robes as the man tried to escape from the two of them. Quickly the two men chased after him, spells flying rapidly from the tip of his wand as he tried his best to stop the rouge tamer without harming or knocking him out. Time was of the essence in this case and he knew that if they wasted too much time on a single man then they ran the risk of another one of their targets escaping their grasp and that was a risk that he was not willing to take. He would not be able to stand it if a criminal escaped capture because of a mistake that he made. It was that caution that stopped him from using any of the more extreme spells in his arsenal and as the other ran further and further away from the two of them, his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched in frustration as he tried to think about what he could do to stop him before relaxing when the sight of Ren and the dragon met his eyes.

He had never been happier to see another person than he was at that moment.

Quickly his wand was thrusted forward, the disarming spell being shouted out and knocking Mackey's drawn wand out of his hand before he could harm either Ren or the dragon that he sat on. " Incarcerous!" Ropes shot out of the tip of his wand, flying over to Mackey where they constricted themselves around his body, rendering him immobile for the time being. It was then that Sebastian's wand moved toward the direction of Mackey's fallen wand, a summoning charm being uttered quietly before the fallen wand flew into his open palm and into his temporary possession.

Mackey was now defenseless and at their mercy.

[Ren Satoshi]

The dragon was twitching beneath Ren and he hissed softly before climbing down, strolling almost casually up to the struggling Mackey with an unreadable expression before speaking in a voice full of suppressed rage, "Not only have you set a very deadly species of dragon on a village of muggles, but you harmed the dragon in your attempt to establish dominance. Tsk, tsk, Kennedy. I've heard your methods are unorthodox, but...lacerating them?" He couldn't control the overflowing rage and drew back his foot and let it connect powerfully with the back of his thinning red hair. "That. Was for the dragon." Mackey shrieked in pain and instantly, Ren drew his wand. Kida began to speak and Ren put his hand up before flicking his wand at the dragon and uttering a low spell in his native tongue, "Odayaka."

The dragon's rage ebbed away slowly until it lay contently on the ground. Kida straightened and looked at Ren sheepishly. "As much as I'd love to make you suffer for your crimes and allegiances, Kennedy, I am in no position to do so. My people are standing by to escort you to your new home in Azkaban." He turned to head back to the dragon when the soft alto of Mackey's laughter poured needles over his senses.

"He knows you're coming. He knows what you are. He's going to destroy you and your family." Ren turned, staring at the bound wizard and smirked softly. "Did he tell you to intimidate me? That he knows my weaknesses? That I would burst into tears at the mention of his name?" He was moving back toward Mackey and Kida's muscles twitched instinctively, ready to pull him away if need be. He looked up at Sebastian, silently warning him to get ready to separate the two if things turned nasty. Ren circled him like a hawk, assessing him with emotionless black eyes. "Did he tell you all about how timid I was?"

He moved close to Mackey's face and it seemed as if the shadows around him made him seem larger and much more intimidating than normal. "He. Was. Wrong." There was the faintest hint of an animalistic growl in his voice before he moved away again and headed to the dragon at a much faster pace. "I want him gone. Send him with Jun. She'll cut out his tongue as soon as listen to his sass."

A careful hand slid down the copper scales of the dragon and he smiled softly, the kindness returning to his eyes and voice. "As for you, handsome, I'll have someone take you home. You promise me you will not hurt them, got it?" The dragon looked elated at the thought of going home and gave a little grunt of approval. "Good. His name is Jakob, he's as nice as I am, though he doesn't talk much. He won't hurt you, okay? He's going to take you home, and then you stay safe for me. I'll visit you sometime and fix your family like I fixed up those nasty cuts on you."

The dragon licked him and he laughed again before making his way to Sebastian's side as Gutenberg, Jun, and Mueller joined them. He finned Jun and Mueller on their assignments and they were off, Mueller handling the dragon with a look of surprise as it allowed him to climb onto its back ad direct him off to go home. His arm slid around Sebastian and he was still slightly shaking. "Antonio DiNassi is next up, but let us wait until tomorrow for that one, shall we? He was last sighted in Milan. He's known for leaking information to wizards in the mafia families about Death Eater practices. I've heard he's a recruiter, I'm not sure how true that is, but he's also one that uses money of illegal goods to support dark magic."

This one...was going to be difficult.

Ren drew in his breath. "Noon tomorrow, okay?" Kida and Gutenberg nodded, promised to relay the message to Jun and Mueller, and appirated away. The instant they were gone, Ren shook harder. "Bloody...Merlin. This is going to usher me to an early grave. The hell did Akio do? Find the cream of the scum crop?" He found himself lowering to the ground, his heart beating quickly. He took a deep breath and looked up at Sebastian. "I suppose I should explain something. Mackey said that Akio knew what I was...well, I...should warn you. I am an unregistered animagus. A-a-at least in the official records, unregistered. The Minister knows, it's in my file, but it's top secret. My team doesn't even know...my kids don't know...no one but me, the Minister, Akio, and now you." He whimpered softly.