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DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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THE GRYPHON COMPLEX. Chapter 13: Forever .

Planning the return home was... complicated. Particularly given that our party had suddenly increased by two without our ability to provide the UN with an adequate explanation as to where the newcomers had come from.

Triss was adamant that the presence of the United Systems on Earth had to remain secret, at least until confirmation otherwise was received from his headquarters. Personally, I agreed with his judgement. The Earth authorities were having enough difficulty coping with one new reality; adding a second would probably send them over the edge.

A bit later that morning, Triss rearmed his cloaking field and left with Trav to return to their "cache"; specifically to report their findings, but also to ask permission to accompany Pyre and I back to Alliance space. Trav also had to clear leave with his own headquarters. I was unsurprised to discover he was police, but it certainly threw us all a bit to hear that his senior officers were aware of Triss's presence on the planet, and were clandestinely assisting them in their campaign against these "Marauders" they'd spoken about. Certainly, it gave us increased hope that our own mission could be pulled off successfully.

As Mykos communicated the news back to the Quorum, he received permission for the four of us to return for debriefing in three days time; more than enough for us to complete our work here, and prepare for the journey.

With the return home imminent, Pyre had finally recovered from his depression and was more the happy, contented personality I'd first met. In return, I spent most of my time simply in his company just... well... being there for him. As we bonded even further, I truly came to appreciate the person I'd decided to spend my life with was exceptional; everything I could have hoped for in a partner.

The UN council clearly had their reservations seeing some of us return home without a completed agreement in place, so they started ramping up the discussions to reach a resolution before we left. Again, it was incredible to see so many nations working together for a change, rather than reaching for each other's throats. The fact that Tass had made it clear they would favour no specific country in their discussions helped many of the more independent delegates to see reason, although it did piss off a few of the larger countries, who felt such access should be limited to those who "deserved it".

My personal thoughts on that matter were clear. Fuck 'em. Keeping such information secret was the cause of so many issues on this planet in the first place.

There was one major hurdle to overcome; religion. As always, it took a group of right wing fundamental extremists no time at all to try and disable the talks. Even before our presence was openly revealed, we had large crowds of nut cases picketing outside the UN building, screaming that the monsters were "godless", which caused a snort of derision from Mykos.

"Where do these loonies spring from?" he demanded, and we could only agree with his comment.

Eventually, in an attempt to control the religious fervour taking over the crowds outside, it was decided to bring in representatives from several of the major religions to "meet" the Quorum representatives in person. A room was set up adjacent to the main auditorium, and over twenty religious leaders were brought in especially for the event.

Oh, hell, it was priceless!

Seeing the look on their collective faces when the Krynn entered the room was good enough, but the shock they felt when Mykos and Pyre followed was perfect. Even better, as the three fielded question after question from the reps, it became quite apparent to the church leaders that not only were they well educated, but they had a clear understanding of theology and could handle such debate with the best of them.

More to the point, as the discussions ended and the three were approached directly, it was obvious that they were real flesh and blood, not "demons" or "hell spawn" as the nut jobs outside were claiming. Several hours in their company left these leaders with a lot to think about, and the meeting ended in a way more positive light than I would have expected.

Admittedly, we kept the interspecies relationships quiet. After all, you can't teach an old fundie new tricks THAT fast!

As the UN diplomatic discussions ended and a draft proposal was created, it was decided that the public should be informed of the event. The rumour mill had gone stir crazy as the UN silence continued, and it didn't take long before all sorts of wild theories were circulating to account for the "monsters"; including it simply being a massive hoax, hallucinogenic gas in the air ducts, or mind controlling drugs in the water supply.

To stop things winding further out of control, a media conference was arranged as soon as possible. Reporters and news crew from around the world were invited, and the large auditorium was packed to the hilt with the media. The podium area, which had seemed so large during the discussions, was overwhelmed with equipment, and it was with trepidation that we prepared to formally announce ourselves to the entire planet.

Even more alarming, was Tass's insistence that I handle the initial introductions!

Stammering to him that I wasn't capable, I had no experience, and I hated public speaking, he shrugged away my stammered concerns with a wave of his hand.

"David, you've handled yourself in a manner well beyond anything we could have expected from you. If there is anyone from this planet I trust to protect our interests, it's you."

Putting a hand on my shoulder companionably, he whispered in my ear "Besides, would you prefer that K does it?"

At my chuckle, he released me with a slap to the back, saying "Just don't smash anyone over the head with a rifle, and you'll be fine!", to which I laughed nervously.

Shit!

The room became silent as I entered the chambers, taking my place before the podium. I'd prepared some notes on what to say, but the sight of the hundreds of eyes staring at me caused me to freeze, acting the startled rabbit in front of headlights.

After a moment, someone in the audience sniggered, and I mentally slapped myself alert. This was too important to fuck up now!

Taking a sip of water, I coughed, before reaching the podium mike and bringing it closer, wincing at the sharp hiss of feedback caused the audience to cringe.

"Umm, sorry about that" I said nervously, and the eyes of the world looked at me unsympathetically.

Shitshitshitshit!

Coughing again, I began to speak, my prepared speech forgotten.

"Hi folks. Umm, my name is David. I'm a research assistant at Central University, working in the Applied Physics department under Professor Seeley. For those who have not heard of him, he's one of the world's leading researchers in the field of temporal displacement or, for those who don't understand the technical jargon, matter transference."

A few of the reporters exchanged confused looks, and I leaned forward and whispered "Star Trek transporter stuff", and received a snigger from several of the more learned amongst them.

"Around four weeks ago, I was monitoring some of Professor Seeley's experiments, when the equipment overloaded, creating a portal to... well... somewhere else"

Looking up from the spot on the desk that had captivated my attention during my speech, I was stunned to see everyone fixated on my words, the room silent apart from the hum of the equipment.

Stuttering a bit, I continued "Errr... Well, after I was thrown across the room, something was pulled through the rift as the equipment exploded. A something that turned out to be Pyre."

I looked around at the spellbound reporters, and continued "Pyre will be out shortly, so you'll have an opportunity to meet him yourselves; it'll be easier if you save your questions about him till then. However, when he arrived so unexpectedly, knowing all hell was going to break loose, we made a quick exit and, with the help of my friend Kaynard, managed to get to safety at his parents' home."

Deciding to polish over the less pleasant bits, I left out all the nastiness. "With the assistance of Professor Seeley, who we brought in to assist, we managed to make it back to Pyre's home world. With the assistance of their leaders, we returned to Earth and approached the UN in a diplomatic capacity. The past few weeks have been spent in negotiations with the various world leaders in arranging a treaty between our two worlds. We've nutted out most of the details, and we're all very positive this will result in huge cultural and technological benefits for all of us here on Earth"

My summary complete, I stared into the stunned faces before me, aware of the cameras rolling. Then one of the reporters began to laugh, which was taken up by more, until a large number were chuckling to each other.

A bit confused, I turned to the UN Ambassador for clarification, when one of the more vocal of the reporters called out to me, drawing my attention back to the crowd.

"So, let me get this straight. I've seen these bogus "video's" that have been circulating on the internet, and I don't believe a word of it. You're saying we have alien visitors here on earth? Right now? In this building?"

Turning to some of his fellows, he said in derision "I'm sorry, but that's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard. Where did they dig up this idiot? Mars?"

Leering back at me as the crowd began laughing, I kept a neutral face as I considered what to do.

Then, with a nasty grin, I turned to the smart arse that started it, and said calmly. "Oh, I see. Obviously you think this is a big prank, huh? Of course it is! April fools in November!"

Turning to leave the podium, I stopped suddenly half way to the door cocking my head towards the cameras, some of which had already been turned off by the irritated crew. Raising a hand, I called back to the reporter, who was still eyeing me with contempt.

"Oh, one thing though. You don't need to take my word for this. I know someone who can do a better job of that than I can."

Returning my gaze to the door, I called out "Mykos? Would you mind stepping out here for a second?"

At that, the large double doors were thrown open from outside, and the huge beaked head of the gryphon appeared in the opening. The laugher cut off suddenly, replaced by several screams as some of the flightier within the crowd panicked; the rest milling about in confusion.

Turning back to the first reporter, as the gryphon made his way besides me before dropping to his haunches, I said quietly to the suddenly intent crowd. "Don't mind my imaginary friend Mykos here. He's really three cub scouts in a badly made fur suit." Patting the huge gryphon on the flank, I smiled up at him before continuing "However, pretending he's real for just a moment, does anyone have any genuine, less stupid questions for him?"

One reporter raised a shaky hand, followed by another, until the entire crowd were vying for our attention in a wave of noisy voices. At that, Pyre pushed through the doorway to join me, dropping behind me as I leaned back against his chest, with the grinning Krynn taking up my flank.

Reaching for the microphone again, I silenced the crowd and formally introduced my friends to the world. Finally, turning to the disbelieving reporter, who had recovered his equilibrium, I said "Now, if we're all finished with the stupid, let's get on with this like humans, not Martians, shall we?", and he nodded vigorously in response.

As Mykos and Pyre answered the crowd's questions, I whispered to Tass "So, that went well..." and received a broad, toothy Krynn grin in reply. _______________________

"Instant celebrity status" was the understatement of the century. We could have spent the next decade touring the talk show circuit, making millions. However, with our departure imminent, we decided to keep the public display fairly limited.

By the same token, while the UN had reservations about letting us leave the building, we decided that our self-imposed indoor exile was officially over.

To get us all some fresh air, I took Pyre and Mykos out for coffee. We had a discrete contingent of "minders" from amongst the security force with us, whose job seemed more to keep overly eager locals from mobbing us than keep us from any real harm. The interview broadcasts had travelled the globe, and it didn't take long for the presence of the aliens on the planet to become almost universally known, even if not accepted.

Finding a coffee shop both close enough, and large enough, for the two gryphons was a bit of a challenge, but K and I finally found one adjacent to the University campus that was keen for the business. Many of the humans we encountered still looked at the gryphons in fear. Others just left... quickly. When one more upmarket business refused to let them into the premises, stammering some bullshit about "animals" not being allowed, K gave the owner an earful, reminding him as we left of the media coverage the business had lost in refusing service; something the owner began to realise as the bulk of his stunned customers left to follow us down the road.

We next tried the "Java Lava" coffee shop, which catered mainly to students from the nearby University, offering cheap, large cups of extra strong coffee as well as fast, friendly service to its patrons. Located across from the huge park circling the university lake, the owner, Teddy, was more than excited to see the four of us arrive, rushing to set up some large tables in the al fresco area opposite the lake. With the patrons being mainly young and open minded students, rather than be put off by the presence of Pyre and Mykos, the place soon became packed with curious minds looking for an insight into far horizons. We spent a great afternoon sipping coffee supplied at no charge by Teddy, who refused all offers of payment, saying that it was the most exciting thing to happen to his shop since they opened. On the side, he whispered to us that having us drink here was also the best draw card for new business he could have hoped for, and we were given the offer of free coffee anytime we chose to spend time in the store.

For the first time in weeks, I relaxed totally. This was the life I had always wanted. Someone who I cared for, and who loved me back, a great social life, and the ability to relax without stress, even if just for a while. Pyre and Mykos seemed to be having a great time chatting to all the eager uni students, and seemed not to mind the often personal, and sometimes ridiculous, questions they were asked by the crowd.

Of course, things looked a bit bleak when a small group of right wing fundamentalists showed up, trying to disturb the afternoon with their crazy antics. That's what happens when you take the "fun" out of "fundamental"; you find the loonies remain.

However, our crowd of students who were so excited by our presence reacted angrily to the newcomers. With a flurry of mobile phone calls, they brought in the reserves from campus. Within minutes, a wall of students had surrounded the religious nut bags, drowning out their cries with their own, and forcing the lot to leave rather hurriedly. The cheers as the fundies made their hasty exit were loud, and the profound thanks offered by both Mykos and Pyre only had them cheering further.

After our lunch, we headed down the park to the lake shore, stopping briefly near the playground to watch the ducks swimming in the lake. While most of the parents present had hurriedly removed their children, Mykos was surprised to feel a sharp tugging on his side, turning to find one brave six year older pulling at his wing feathers. Lifting the offended plumage out of the kid's eager grasp, he brought his face down to regard the child solemnly. The child, totally fearless, let out a whoop of delight, before throwing himself against the gryphon in glee, tugging his fur and crying out for a ride.

Mykos gave me a resigned glance before dropping to the ground, allowed the child to climb happily onto his back. Telling the ecstatic kid to hang on, he began dashing through the playground at full speed, dodging through the trees and at one point even getting airborne, with the child screaming in excitement from his position between his wings.

Turning back to Pyre, I saw we had been hurriedly joined by the kid's parents, who were staring at their offspring in horror. Hiding a grin, I approached the pair, telling them not to worry, and that Mykos was quite safe, and would be careful. Soon enough, a breathless gryphon and hyper-stimulated offspring rejoined us, the child scrambling from the gryphon's back to throw his arms around his neck in gratitude. Looking embarrassed, he gave the child a tentative pact, before returning him to his parents, who thanked him cautiously, before leaving with happy, exhausted child in tow.

Squatting on his haunches, he gave us an unfathomable stare, before dropping to the ground with a sigh to catch his breath. Soon enough, the other children who had been watching the excitement eagerly from a distance approached, and it wasn't long before they, too, overcame their fear and begin clambering all over the patient gryphon, a laughing K keeping a close eye on their antics from his side.

Turning to Pyre with a raised eyebrow, he gave me a smirk and said "Well, he can't eat a whole one, right?" at which I grinned. Leaning my back against him in comfort, he wrapped his arms around me, joining me in my contemplation of the lakes calm water.

Returning to our rooms at the UN later that day, we were met by a chuckling Krynn, who brought to our attention the news flashed across the TV.

"Every channel!" he reported, flicking between the various programs, all of which showed pictures of our afternoon jaunt. While many had been taken during our coffee stop, the ones catching the most attention were those of Mykos and his "passenger" cavorting through the park. Seems he'd caught the attention of nearly everyone, with all news reports showering praise on his patient handling of the curious kid's attention.

As we turned to him, he looked somewhat embarrassed, saying "Well, kids are kids on any planet", and the Krynn laughed again, patting his side.

"Good work" he said, "We couldn't have asked for more positive coverage of our presence here. Not bad for a lowly security chief".

Mykos stared at him a moment, before turning to his room "Just don't get any ideas, Krynn" he rumbled with a smirk. "I've heard how you like to "ride" people. It's not nearly as much fun as it is my way, is it, K?", before retreating through the doorway to avoid a thrown cushion, his deep, rumbling laughter echoing through the common room. K, looking totally embarrassed in turn, gave the Krynn a guilty grin, which was returned with an evil smirk, setting Pyre and I into further laughter.

____________________

The rest of the weekend passed equally easily, and it was with excitement that the deadline for our return to Pyres home drew closer. The gryphon was becoming increasingly unsettled, and took to pacing around the common area in an attempt to calm his jitters; something that set everyone else on edge until Mykos eventually threw him an oath to sit still and stop making him so bloody edgy!

On Tuesday, we all crammed into a small delivery truck which had been retrofitted with webbing straps on floor and walls to give the two gryphons something to secure themselves to. The humans and slid into the front seats behind the driver's cab. With an escort of UN forces in tow, we made our laborious way back to K's parent's house, where the transporter equipment continued to be operated.

K's father, having decided to join us, regarded the mess that had been made stoically enough, although he did shoot K several dark glances at the more obvious damage caused during the raid on the place prior to our departure. A temporary entrance had been set up where the original grand entry had stood, and the piles of rubble had been cleared away, thankfully. However, as we met Professor Seeley in the main lounge, K turned a bit white as he spied the site of his shooting; dark blood still staining the floor boards where the cleaners had been unable to remove it. His father, noting his distress, put an arm around his shoulders in comfort; something I'd never expected to see him ever do. At least K had managed to draw closer to his family during the entire incident.

Seeley showed us over the new modifications that had been made to the original equipment, thanks to gear forwarded through the portal by the Quorum. He took Pyre over the latest changes, and the gryphon seemed more than pleased with the results. When we had a moment's peace, he turned to me and whispered "No barfing this trip, thank the Gods!", and I chuckled at his response, giving his neck a comforting slap in reply.

Eventually, all preparations had been completed, and we gazed upon the shining portal that was our ticket to Pyre's home. It had been a condition of the treaty that all military technology be returned to Pyre's home world, so laden with our gear, we marched through the shining surface....

...to arrive back safely at the Quorum science facility, into the awaiting arms of his father.

Pyre and the First speaker exchanged looks, before the larger gryphon enveloped his stepson in his wings, hugging him tightly. After a moment, he spied me standing back, and with a beckoning claw, drew me over to join the embrace.

"Thank you, David", The First speaker choked out past tears. "You've returned him to us".

Nodding through the feathery embrace, I said "As promised, Sir", and we spent a few minutes together.

Finally releasing the two of us, he moved to greet Triss and Trav, nodding politely as he welcomed them to the Alliance home world. Triss greeted the gryphon solemnly, his demeanour in stark contrast to what we'd come to expect from Tass. It was weird dealing with a Krynn who took things so seriously, but it was clear Triss hadn't had an easy life; the scars marring the fur of his lean form gave testament to that. Over the prior days, I'd had a chance to get to know the Krynn a bit, and the hardships he'd experienced had been horrific. No surprise, then, his reaction when encountering Tass; the first member of his species he'd met in nearly a decade. To discover not only were you not alone in the universe, but had a whole "extended family" to meet on another world, must have been overwhelming. Personally, I admired the guy; he was a tough, no nonsense sort, and I had to smile at the thought of his encountering his newly found kin here.

Trav was a bit of an enigma. He had a way of looking right through you, which was somewhat disconcerting. Truth be told, he scared the shit out of me at times, as you could just tell he wasn't someone to mess with. The closest person I'd met who reminded me of him was Mykos. Trav could joke with us, but underneath he was as lethal as the gryphon, and he'd formed a close professional relationship with him in the short time that had passed since he and Mykos had met.

I'd had an opportunity to discuss our cross-species relationships with Trav early one morning, while we were waiting for the rest of the crew to wake up. Trav was certainly curious about my relationship with Pyre, and I saw no reason to hold information back, having nothing further to prove to anyone about it. After some amusing exchanges on the more interesting anatomical and physical differences between our species, we were shortly joined by Triss, who was somewhat put out by the telltale grins we exchanged at his presence. When Trav finally threw an arm around the perplexed 's Krynn's shoulders, I made my excuses and left the pair, fighting a smile as Trav filled in his partner about some of the more interesting points of our discussion.

That Trav and Triss were more than simply partners seemed strange, although there was no denying the obvious affection the two felt. Neither was the sort to be overly demonstrative of his feelings, but the casual closeness, occasional touch and brief, shared glances were clear enough to anyone who came to know them. The two apparent loners had met their soul mate in each other and, regardless of the difference in species; their lives were now intertwined, just as mine was with Pyre.

Once the greetings were officially over, Trav and Triss were offered accommodation in the guest Sector of the Quorum council offices, but politely declined, having previously accepted Pyres offer to stay with the two of us. First speaker accepted their decision gracefully, knowing they'd be well looked after. We did accept the offer of transport, and it wasn't long before we'd made our goodbyes for the night and left for the sector of the city holding the gryphon's apartment.

By the time we'd arrived, we were totally exhausted; mentally and physically. Pyre showed the pair to a room before slipping a wing around my shoulders, and guiding me to his own. I had only an indistinct memory of the opulence of the apartment, before the soft snick of the door closing behind us left the room in semi darkness, only lit by the dim lights of the city filtering through the room's screening.

The quiet, contented sigh as the gryphon dropped onto his back in his own bed for the first time in weeks sent a quick smile across my face, and I slipped in next to him, my fingers kneading his neck softly as his purr sent the bed vibrating. Finally, as his breathing settled, I nestled into his side, head resting on his chest, and breathed deeply myself.

Whispering into the feathered neck softly, I spoke my heart.

"I love you, Pyre..."

A moment passed, before a soft, strong wing wrapped around my shoulders, drawing me close.

"...love you too...." he mumbled, before we fell asleep together in each other's arms.

Tomorrow was a new, brighter day, and we had the rest of our lives to deal with it.

___________________

So concludes Part 2 of the "New Worlds" series: The Gryphon Complex.

Don't fear. The story will continue, with the four adventurers joining forces again to take on the Marauder menace on Earth, as well as following their travels in the United Systems worlds.