Tiger

by Kate LaMontagne

  “Yes” Tiger responded. “We’ve come to an understanding.”

  “Who was that man?” Remi asked.

  “Oh, that’s Professor Laoch. He’s helped me a lot with my research into the Fae. He comes and goes from time to time. It’s unfortunate that he’s been recalled due to an emergency back home. Why do you ask?”

  “Just curious. He looks familiar. I think I’ve seen him around or maybe on a galaxynet post,” Remi mused as he stared after Laoch. “Unusual hair.”

  “Yes… well, not uncommon for a full-blooded Fae.”

  Turning back to Lucius he said quietly, “we need to talk Doctor… privately.”

  “Very well. Shall we step into my office?” Lucius led them into his office and gestured them towards the overstuffed chairs as he sat in his desk chair. “I trust this understanding is amicable?” Lucius cast a questioning look at Tiger. “Will Lieutenant Yamano be returning to Aurora with you? Is this what you want, laddie? We haven’t completed our research yet and time is of the essence, as I’m sure you now know,” he stressed, addressing Remi.

  “Actually, Doctor, we think maybe it isn’t anymore.” Tiger unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it open, baring the silver tattoo to Lucius’ scrutiny.

  Lucius gasped and jumped out of his seat. “Saints preserve us! Is that what I think it is? When did this happen? How? Who? This is amazing!” Lucius dropped to his knees in front of Tiger and reached out tentatively. “May I?”

  Tiger nodded and Lucius traced his fingers over the glittering patterns. His touch had no effect on Tiger. “‘Tis the Fae bond! This pattern is unquestionably a Fae design and the Tiger must be a familial mark. You found your fated mate lad! Where is she? Is she a native of Corvan or an off-worlder?”

  Remi cleared his throat. Lucius looked in his direction and a furiously blushing Remi was holding his shirt open to display his matching tattoo.

  Lucius nearly fell back on his ass. His eyebrows shot up and he scrambled to stand back up. “Oh! Oh my! Tiger, you never said you already had a lover. I was under the impression Captain Styles was merely pursuing you as a potential threat to the public. If I said or did anything untoward during your stay….”

  “Lucius, this is all kind of new and things have happened so quickly…. You’ve been nothing but kind and a perfect gentleman during our time together. Frankly, Captain Styles… Remi and I… we hadn’t really had a chance to establish what our relationship was before now. Obviously, nothing of a… ah… serious nature had occurred between us until last night.”

  “We came to you because we knew you’d want to run tests and document the results, and we want to be sure I’m really in the clear and that Remi is safe from the virus too. Actually, I’d appreciate it if you test him first.” Tiger was about to crawl out of his skin at the thought that Remi’s life might now be at risk.

  “Of course! Of course, laddie! We should get on that asap! You might want to let your friends know that you’re here and safe before we get started and have something to eat first. This is going to take some time. They missed the captain at breakfast this morning so I’m sure they must be quite concerned. Button up my lads and follow me!”

  Lucius led them to the cafeteria and sent a runner to notify TJ and the rest of the team to meet them there. He arranged for some food to be brought to the table for everyone, then left to prepare a lab for the tests.

  A few minutes later, TJ came flying into the room, eyes wild and breathing hard. He stomped up to Tiger, glared at him, then threw his arms around him, hugging Tiger so hard he couldn’t breathe. “You stupid brat! Do you know how many premature gray hairs you’ve given me? What the fuck were you thinking?”

  He turned to Remi next and said, “And you …. where the fuck have you been? We thought you might have wandered away and gotten lost! Holy crap! You two are going to be the death of me yet!”

  About that time the rest of the crew came wandering in with shit-eating grins on their faces. They headed toward Tiger and pulled him in for more hugs and some teasing about getting lost in the snow on his way to the bar.

  Remi pulled TJ aside and gave him a brief rundown on the upcoming tests, but he held back the full story until they could get the results back. TJ agreed to hold off on grilling them both until after the testing was done but he was adamant that they would be giving him a full accounting of everything once they were finished. He wasn’t willing to delay any longer.

  He headed toward Tiger. “No more BS! No lies, no more disappearing acts, no more loopholes! Maybe you two have forgotten, but Tiger is my subordinate. I may be good ol’ Uncle TJ part of the time but I’m his commanding officer all of the time.” Leaning into Tiger’s personal space now, he lowered his voice. “I can throw him in the brig and lose the key if the mood strikes me. Don’t forget that,” he growled with an evil smile.

  Tiger gulped and just nodded.

  Chapter 19

  Tiger and Remi had gone back to the waterfall to wait for the results once their tests were entered into the system for analysis. They were too nervous to be trapped inside with the others who kept casting curious looks their way. Hands linked, they sat on the log near the pond, leaning against one another and talking quietly. Tae found them there and congratulated them both on their successful mating and hopefully the cure Tiger had sought so desperately.

  “So, if the tests show you are cured, you will be going back to Aurora with your friends soon?”

  “Yes, Tae. Unfortunately, I think Lucius and I have helped each other as much as possible at this point. I’ll be back from time to time to help him with his Fae research, but right now his focus needs to remain on the venom studies and my cure isn’t really beneficial to that.”

  “Also, I have a contract with the Corvan army, and they won’t be happy if I don’t go back. I’ll miss you and I’m forever in your debt.” He hugged Tae tightly and blinked to hold back the sting of tears threatening to fall. “If you hadn’t tipped us off to our mistake, we might not have had a successful…. um… mating.”

  “Can I ask…. would you show me your mate mark?” Tae asked shyly. “Doctor Lucius says it is different from ours.”

  “Sure.” He opened his shirt and the silver tattoo shimmered against his pale skin in the sunlight.

  Tae ‘ahh’d’ and smiled brightly. “It is beautiful! What is the inner design? It is an animal? None of ours have creatures; they are just tribal patterns.”

  “It’s a Tiger. A large predatory feline species found on Old Earth. They’re very rare now but I heard they’re trying to reintroduce them in the wilds of Panthera 2. They’re extremely dangerous and were once hunted almost to extinction.”

  “A tiger. So, it is similar to a tribal pattern because you are also the tiger. Yes?”

  “In name only, I’m afraid.”

  “Oh, no no! I heard your friends talking about your battle against something they called ‘gang-bangs’ and they said you were a ‘brave little fucker’. That you single-handedly defeated twenty armed men.”

  Tiger blushed. “That’s gang-bangers, and they exaggerated a little.”

  “TJ is very proud of you, even though he keeps calling you a ‘stupid little brat’. They are all very fond of you. They say you are all brothers, but I think they mean spiritually. They look nothing alike although they are all very handsome, especially the one called Tony.” Tae sighed and his eyes glazed over.

  Tiger and Remi laughed, and Tiger asked, “Tae, has Tony been hitting on you?”

  “No! He is very kind! He would never hit me! He says I am sweet, and he says my eyes are like pools of liquid gold. I think those are good things, right?”

  Now Remi and Tiger were having a hard time suppressing their laughter and their eyes were starting to tear.

  “Tae, hitting on you means Tony wants to…. you know…. be romantic with you.”

  “Oh! Yes! I think he likes me and wants to….”

  “Wait! Wait! Wait!” Tiger waved his hands frantically. “Don’
t do anything with Tony until we have a chance to talk to him! I want to ask him what his intentions are before you two get carried away. You know he’s a soldier and he has to go back to Fort Yamano too. He’s probably just trifling with you. Looking for a quick….” Tiger sighed. “Quickie.”

  “Quickie?”

  “You know. He just wants to have sex with you. He’s not looking for a long-term relationship. Probably.”

  “Oh…. Well, I am fine with that. You know I am not mated. I will probably never get a mate mark, but quickie sounds good.” Tae smiled at Tiger beatifically.

  Tiger’s jaw dropped open, but no words came out. Remi gently reached out and lifted Tiger’s chin. “Let it go” he whispered. It’s none of our business.”

  “But……”

  Remi just shook his head.

  “Fine,” Tiger bit out, crossing his arms over his chest.

  *****

  Several hours later, Lucius finally confirmed that the virus was no longer present in Tiger’s body, nor had Remi contracted it. Tiger was so overwhelmed by emotion, his knees buckled and the backlash through the mate link nearly brought Remi down as well.

  Helping Tiger back up, Lucius warned, “That’s something you’re going to have to work on laddie. Your martial training should help you master those strong emotions. Meditation will help Remi too. The link will always be there, until one of you passes. You can’t turn it off or eliminate it, but you can turn the volume down.”

  “When one of you is sick or injured, the other will feel your pain. Love, sorrow, fear, anger, joy, lust…. it will all pass from one to the other if it’s strong enough. That’s what makes it so hard on the surviving mate when one dies. After sharing the bond for so long, they say it’s like having half your soul ripped away. Most can’t cope with it and either kill themselves or just wither away.”

  “At least, that’s the way it is with the natives. There might be some differences with the Fae bond. I know it’s similar, but I haven’t had time to go into it in depth with Professor Laoch yet.”

  “Yes, well, if you’ll excuse us Lucius, we promised the team an update on what’s happened in the last twenty-four hours. I imagine Captain Kirk’s patience is just about at an end,” Remi interjected. “We’ll have to start making plans for our return asap, but we appreciate your help and we’ll do what we can to assist with your research in the future.”

  “I hope you understand. The military holds our contracts and limits our independence. Also, you understand that this whole situation needs to remain confidential, even from the military and the government.” ‘Especially from the military and the government.’

  “Och, laddie, you’ve no need to worry about tha’. Me and the stuffed shirts have never seen eye to eye. Your secrets are safe with me. ‘Tis not a one-way street either. Tiger’s been a great help to me, and I’d love to keep working with him in the future. Off wit’ ye now before TJ starts bellowing. Honestly, I don’t know how Max puts up with him,” he muttered to himself as he walked away.

  “Max and TJ? Who’s Max, and what’s going on with those two?” Tiger asked.

  As they headed for the suite assigned to the team, Remi filled Tiger in. “Max is your doctor, and I think he and TJ are an item, but I don’t think that’s common knowledge.”

  “Doctor Stafford? He’s…. with my CO…… eew! This is…… eew! Wait! Was that him I saw with you guys? He’s here?” Finally, a light clicked on in Tiger’s head. “That’s how you guys knew where to find me! Well, aren’t you all just a fine upstanding bunch? You and TJ hacked my sealed file and my doctor broke patient confidentiality.”

  Remi winced and tried to downplay that revelation. “Things worked out, so maybe we should all just tuck that away for now.”

  “Sure, until one of you starts giving me shit about what I did. Then it might just come untucked,” Tiger warned.

  When they arrived, the rest of the team, including Max, was gathered in the common room of the suite. TJ’s pacing came to an abrupt halt when they entered. He didn’t miss the fact that their fingers were linked together. He opened his mouth, but Tiger cut him off before he could say anything. “Please sit TJ. We have a lot to tell you and you’re going to want to be seated when you hear it.” He and Remi sat on one of the couches, still holding hands, and he began.

  *****

  TJ looked less than pleased once Tiger finished speaking. He asked Jess and Tony to step out of the room. “All right,” he said once the door closed behind them. “I know you just gave us all the sanitized version. Now I want the rest of it.” He waved at Tiger’s and Remi’s joined hands. “How long has this been going on? You barely know each other and now you’re practically married? Have you given any thought to how this is going to work?”

  Tiger looked shocked at his reaction and Remi was just pissed. “Our private lives are none of your business Captain Kirk. You may have control over Tiger’s military obligations but that’s where your authority ends.” Tiger patted Remi’s thigh in a conciliatory manner and leaned forward meeting TJ’s gaze head on.

  “TJ, you’re my CO, my best friend and my brother, but this was Remi’s and my decision alone. This relationship is relatively new and unexpected. Granted, we barely know each other but since we’re obviously fated mates, it was the right decision. Furthermore, considering that Lucius has not yet found a cure to TD, we really had no choice.”

  “I know it kind of sounds like one of those arranged marriages, but I’m certain our connection will be cemented as we become more familiar with each other. We know it’s a lifetime commitment, so walking away from each other is not an option. Please try to be happy for me… for us. Sure, this whole situation is complicated, but I’m honestly looking forward to all the future holds for us. I don’t doubt that Remi means it when he says he loves me. We’ll just have to take things one day at a time.”

  “I suppose. There really is nothing to be done about it now” TJ growled. “The first thing we need to figure out is how to guarantee that the two of you aren’t separated due to your separate service branches and differing duties. Styles is only on temporary loan from the air force to the fort and we spend a lot of time in the field and on team missions, but it sounds like at least initially you’re going to be limited to remaining in close proximity to each other.”

  “We’ll figure it out” Tiger said. “We have some time to brainstorm on the way back to Aurora and looking on the bright side, I’m still alive and we just added two new members to our family! Hmm, it’s kind of like Remi and Jake are your brothers-in-law now!”

  TJ’s eyes expanded and he started to lunge off the sofa, but Max grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

  “You know, you and the good doctor are hardly in a position to cry foul considering the illegal shenanigans you’ve both been up to” Tiger pointed out casually. “Guess we’re all in this together, aren’t we?” He smiled sweetly.

  Max hadn’t let go of TJ’s arm, clutching it possessively and rubbing the back of his shoulder with his free hand to try to settle him. TJ glowered at Tiger, but Tiger just smirked back at him. “And just how long has this been going on?” he parroted, pointing back and forth between TJ and Max.

  Max jerked his hands back as if TJ had suddenly become a hot stove. Changing the subject, TJ said “Your boyfriend started it, so don’t get too cocky mister. You have tomorrow to finish up whatever McNair and you are working on. We leave early day after tomorrow. Your leave is cancelled, effective immediately. You’re coming back with us, but I don’t care what the hell Styles does.”

  “I assume you’ll want to move out of the fort. You can file the paperwork when we get home.” He got up and left the room, closing the door quietly. Max sighed and scrunched his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He’ll come around. You know he was scared to death when he thought he was going to lose you. He’s just a control freak and he doesn’t deal well with change, especially when it affects his family.”

  Rising, he
held his hand out to shake both their hands. “Congratulations on your cure and your…. engagement.” He pointed a finger at Tiger. “You obviously had no problem handling the journey here from Aurora, but I would like to check you over before the trip back. I expect to see you tomorrow after you finish up with Lucius. If everything looks okay, I’ll sign your medical release to return to duty.” He chuckled to himself and shook his head as he left the room to catch up with TJ.

  They all had dinner together that evening, with Lucius and Tae. Tae didn’t normally dine with Lucius, but Tiger made a point of requesting Tae’s presence since he felt like it was a celebration that Tae deserved to participate in. Tae sat next to Tony, but he seemed a little overwhelmed to be included in the festivities. He wasn’t used to being close to so many handsome strangers all at once and sat shyly, not making eye contact or speaking.

  Tony noticed that he was withdrawn, picking at his food but not eating, so he tipped Tae’s chin up and began to shrewdly feed Tae little bites of his food, whispering words of reassurance into his ear. Tae glanced up at Tony occasionally with adoration in his eyes.

  Tiger watched the charming scene and could see that Tony was showing true affection for the little native, so he decided to stay out of their affairs…. for the time being. In retrospect, after TJ’s attempt at interfering in his relationship with Remi, who was he to tell Tony and Tae how to lead their lives?

  Although… maybe he should at least point out to Tony how inexperienced the man was and that hurting him in any way would be taken as a personal affront to Tiger and Doragonsureiyā.

  After dinner, they all went their separate ways. Tae and Tony left, hand in hand, TJ and Max retired to Max’s room, Tiger and Remi decided to go back to the waterfall cave, and Lucius invited Jess to have drinks in his cabin.

  When Tiger and Remi passed by on their way to the waterfall, they saw Tony and Tae sitting in one of the thermal pools. Tony was leaning against a large rock and kissing Tae as the little guy straddled his lap. Tiger started to swerve in their direction, but Remi grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the waterfall instead.