Orion. Orion is the cadet in charge of night shift.

And, yes, he's definitely asleep.

It's been a slow, boring night, and with the Absol curled near his feet able to wake him up should anyone come inside, Orion hadn't hesitated to shut his eyes. The low lights of the lobby hadn't impeded his sore need for rest.

What does, however, is Altair's teeth in his thigh.

"Nngh," he grumbles, stirred awake by the prickling pain. He swats half-heartedly at his partner's flank. "What is it?"

He blinks, bleary, and sees no one.

"Ow. Fuck."

"Tam?" Orion, still dazed from the abrupt return to consciousness, nearly trips over Altair when they both get up at the same time. Steadying himself on the counter, the ranger rubs sleep from his eyes and potters over to— "Tam?!"

He's seen his Captain injured, but he's never seen him like this. "What the fuck happened to you?"

notes

Lighting does not improve the situation.

"Are you?" Orion's words are perhaps a little too sharp, edged with concern. "You don't look fine."

He looks like he's been through hell, and the captain's next words don't help. Orion sputters in disbelief, words lost on him as he watches Tam retrieve a first aid kit.

"You need a file for that?" Tact is also something Orion lacks. "How many known avatars do they even have? Darkrai, Lugia — whatever the fuck that other guy is." It still infuriates him that he can't recall Chu-e Choi's name. "Did you see them use their powers? Did they look like the posters? Arceus, Tam."

Yet for all his fussing, Orion does cross the room to start looking through the files.

notes

Tam ignores him, which is annoying but not wholly unexpected from what he's learned of the captain. He'd think Tam wasn't listening at all until he speaks up.

"You think?" How many corrupted leviathans does Tam think there are? "Pretty sure you'd know, if you had."

Orion struggles to rectify Tam's apathy with what should be, in his opinion, an incredibly alarming situation. If he hadn't been so furious when facing off against Chu-e Choi, he's sure he'd have been terrified. But Tam seems about as scared as he does angry, which is not at all.

He brings the files out into the shadowy breakroom, nudging the light switch with his elbow. Altair brushes past them to jump up onto one of the couches, tucking his white paws underneath him and watching impassively as Orion spreads the files out on the table.

The file on Cillian Quinn isn't hard to find, as there aren't many; Orion slides it over to Tam. Pictures evidently taken from HNN and government ids supplement what information they know. Known agent of Team Rocket wanted for war crimes in Kanto and Hoenn. Highly dangerous.

Orion fingers a page headed KNOWN POKEMON. "Did you see any of these?"

AERODACTYL, CORVIKNIGHT, EELEKTROSS, ROSERADE, TYRANITAR. And, of course, the SHADOW LUGIA.

Blurry stills from what must be video footage depict approximations of those listed, difficult to pick out details in the chaos of battle but offering an approximation of dark wings and bone-white spines.

notes

Orion nearly chokes.

"Hotter— he's a terrorist, Tam!" As if Tam Fawley needs reminding, considering their battle. "You need to re-evaluate your tastes." That Tam and the aforementioned terrorist look as if they could be cousins doesn't register, but Orion does belatedly realise he'd just insulted himself in the process. Well. Still not wrong. He could hardly be considered a catch.

Green eyes go wide with concern as Orion watches Tam strip off his dusty, tattered gloves. He could have died.

"Escavalier," Orion mumbles, desperate for any excuse to focus his attention elsewhere. He's worried for Tam, he realizes, but doesn't know how to express it. "That's not mentioned anywhere here..."

Easily intimidated though he was, the towering presence of Tam's Tyranitar only makes Orion feel sorrow.

"Is your team OK...?"

notes

Orion makes a face as if he's tasted something foul, though it fades under flushed cheeks as the implication settles. Sober, he's far less oblivious, especially under the intensity of the captain's gaze.

"Oh, shut up." There's no heat, and even a hint of a smile as he breaks eye contact.

"It talks about the mist here," Orion affirms, scanning the report. "Not much about what it can do, except that apparently it can revive fainted Pokémon?" That would be convenient, except, "And control them."

He expects that hadn't happened to Tam; if it had, Orion thinks even the apathetic Fawley might have mentioned.

He catches Tam staring sadly at the incident board. A sympathetic grimace pulls at his lips as the captain laments his failure.

"Not like that was your fault. We're not built to fight avatars." Or not trained to, at any rate. Perhaps the new SYGNA SUITS picking up traction in Hoenn would help level out the playing field. "Was it just the one shipment?"

It seemed like they wouldn't send a high profile target for a single crate of eggs...

notes

Zombies? "Yeah, I guess so." Orion, too, feels bad for the Pokémon involved. "Looks like they recovered, but still..." Who knew what lasting effects such a thing might have?

He cants his head in thought.

"Could've been a TAILWIND. You said there was an Aerodactyl?" He's not sure if Aerodactyl are capable of such a feat, not specializing in the species, but he does know it's common among fliers. "Shadow Pokémon are much stronger than normal." He grimaces under a memory he'd rather suppress. "Hailee and I fought a couple at Mt. Pyre. I made my report to the captain in Fortree, but you could probably ask for a copy." I don't want to relive it again, goes unspoken. His beloved Hydreigon had perished among the graves of countless others.

Tam's injured in the moment, though, and he shakes off regrets like cobwebs to scowl at the captain.

"Tam. Next time? You could have died." They're in agreement about the need for preparations for the future, but, "You're acting like this isn't a big deal, and it is. What would the rest of us do if he'd killed you?"

What would I do? He keeps that to himself.

notes

There's an unusual softness to Tam's admission, and Orion knows what's coming. He attempts a smile, as if to say, don't worry, it's fine, but it isn't fine and that smile is fleeting and sad. He had failed Fafnir with his own recklessness. Looking at Tam with Lily, he thinks the captain understands.

Though initially eager for a change in subject, Tam's obliviousness ensures that things go nowhere good.

"Me?" Orion scoffs, sharp, but in spite of his bitter tone, his next words ooze vulnerability. "I'd only drag them down. They need a leader." You're that leader, idiot. He stops short of saying as much, but Lily fills in the blanks with a smack of her tail. Orion decides then and there that Lily is one of his favourites. "See? She gets it."

Orion cards a hand through his hair as Tam sighs.

"I know," he admits. "But you could have called for back-up. Any of us would've had your back." He would have had Tam's back, independent of the squad, but he generalizes out of habit. His worth is not equal to that of others.