A Frozen Kurse

Chapter 1:

The Partridge in the Pear Tree

And it feels, and it feels like

Heaven's so far away.

And it stings, yeah it stings now

The world has grown cold

Now that you've gone away.

The Offspring: Gone Away

If Fox McCloud knew anything, it was that there was a time to move on. His target had obviously gotten away. Whoever this guy was, he was fast to be able outrun Fox. The orange vulpine knew that it would be harder to get a situation where he would be able to perform the hit without getting himself into trouble.

Fox holstered his blaster and turned away from the street he'd seen his target, a white rabbit, cross before hopping into a car and speeding off. This was going to be an exhausting next week of planning. As it was, he was already sick of being on this planet. Kew wasn't exactly the most friendly of places to be. Now he would have to plan another attempt on top of being stuck on this shit ball.

He sighed as he made his way back to his hotel. It was a nice establishment. Thirty stories, an outdoor pool, and the most spacious rooms on the planet made it fairly expensive, but Fox knew that money was the least of his problems. He hadn't gotten into bounty hunting for financial help. He'd done it to keep his mind off of the past.

"No. I'm not thinking back about that again. She's gone." he growled at himself through gritted teeth. It wasn't exactly easy to forget the part of his life with Star Fox. It was a happier time for him. Now he would feel lucky if he fell asleep one night and didn't wake up. The only reason he hadn't pulled the trigger on himself yet was that he had always believed in dealing with his problems, and that seemed more like running away from them.

He made his way through the rotating doors of the Away Home Hotel and into the red carpeted lobby. Most animals would have stopped to wonder in awe at the intricacies of the artwork sculpted into the golden ceiling, but for Fox it may as well have been a log cabin. No beauty was worth looking at without her next to him to enjoy it. Animals crowded the lobby. Several bumped into him, casting angry looks back at the inconsiderate jerk who would dare push them. Others gave him a curious look, like they had seen him somewhere before. Fox had to smile at this. He looked different enough that he doubted any of his friends would recognize him. The white tuft of hair on his head now hung past his neck in a ponytail. Several scars adorned his forearms, making him look almost as if they had been sewn together. He hadn't been unfit when he was on the Great Fox, but he was much stockier now. He had loved the final touch he had put on to mask who he was. A pair of obsidian shades sat in front of his eyes. People had always said he looked like his father in them, but now the similarity vanished when combined with the other changes.

Fox walked towards the elevator at the other end of the lobby. He just wanted to get to his room and be at peace, but these idiots were crowding the lobby and blocking anyone from moving. If they would all just calm the hell down, they would be able to get out much more quickly, but being the selfish creatures they were, they all shoved and pushed to be first to the counter. He often felt sick that he had risked his life to save these kinds of people. He could only be glad that he was no longer in that kind of work.

After finally reaching the elevator, Fox hit the button for the twenty ninth floor and fell back on the wall of the lift. The day had been long, and he was pissed off. There was nothing he wouldn't do at this point to get back to his room. As the elevator slowly rose towards its destination he thought back to another time in he had been in an elevator.

She had been there with him. They were holding hands. The sweat trickled down his back at an alarming rate, but as always, she seemed as calm as ever. He didn't know why being close to her only seemed to affect him. Even after their relationship had started he wasn't able to talk to her without blushing and now wasn't any different. He felt even more nervous about what he was going to say now. It wasn't just idle conversation either. The blue vixen next to him looked over at him. Those eyes had always helped him find peace. They were so much like her fur. They were unusually blue. So blue in fact, that he had to wonder if there was ever another pair like them, or ever would be. He doubted it. She smiled. He couldn't help it anymore. He moved in closer to her. They were only a hair's breadth apart.

He slowly whispered three words to her. Her smile grew wider and her eyes became brighter as she responded with seven words.

"I love you."

"I know, and I love you too."

Fox shook his head clear of the memories.

"I said I'm not gonna think about it again. You remember what you did after that? You left her behind. You forced her into the arms of that fucking creep. She hates you now. Forget about it."

He stood up again as the elevator slowed to a halt. The doors opened to a hallway lined with green doors. He hated the color. It wasn't a color meant for interior decoration. He made his way down to the seventh door in the hallway. He pulled out the key and slid it through the lock on the door. The room inside was a good size. The only thing bigger was the penthouse above him, but that would be too big of a target for any snipers. He knew better than that. The kitchen it came with had a fridge big enough to hold over a weeks worth of food and an oven that could probably roast a turkey whole. He didn't know, he hadn't tried yet. The shower in the bathroom was meant for two people, but it suited him just fine. The bed was also meant for a couple, but he used the extra space so that when he tossed and turned in his sleep from his nightmares he wouldn't fall out. The room was nice, but it made him sigh. It was meant for couples. The whole thing was for two people who loved each other. It seemed that no matter where he went he couldn't escape those thoughts.

One thing he did like though was the window. It was a long CEO style window covering the top half of the wall next to the bed. He could pull the shades over it if he felt uncomfortable, but the view over the city was something he could enjoy, even if this city had a completely different feel when he was down on the streets at night. Down there it was an ocean filled with sharks who had caught a scent of blood, but up here it was a manufactured rainforest of stone, metal, and lights. He couldn't help but stand and admire the beauty of it all.

On top of a sky scraper, a dark figure angled a spotter scope downwards. The animal holding the scope grinned. Through the scope they could see what they were looking for. The vulpine they were watching had chosen a good room. Not as conspicuous as the penthouses, but not so obvious as a ground level floor. Hiding just under the top. He was enjoying the view he had right now.

Even the stalker had to admit, what the fox was seeing must have been impressive. Not many animals could afford to get a room with that overlook of the city. She had to wonder who this was and what he did to have enough money to pay for the room. Her eyes closed tightly as she noticed who he looked like, not for the first time.

"No. You left. It's over. You can't keep thinking about it. That's not him."

Kursed sat down with her scope. Usually she would have brought her rifle along with her, but she had heard from her employer when she got the job that this hit was particularly clever. She had decided that it might be best to study his movements for awhile before taking him out. A sure kill was better than a quick one. She knew he'd be here for another week at the least. He had been chasing a white rabbit, but with Kursed's help, the rabbit had gotten away. She could keep him here for at least another two weeks if she had to, and that was more than enough time. She would take her time with this. The pay on this bounty was much too high to mess up. She looked through the scope and continued to watch as the target slowly made his way to the left of the window. He reached for something out of sight, but stopped. He turned his head so that he was looking right up at her and waved with a large grin on his face before he flicked a switch, turning the glass opaque.

"Fuck!" Kursed swore loudly. She switched the lenses on her scope to thermal only to find that the glass was outputting enough heat to block it. X-ray didn't work either, as it seemed that the glass was integrated with lead molecules. She wouldn't be seeing anything else tonight, and now he knew she was watching him. She would have to be fast. Kursed folded her scope up and placed it in the pack on her back before backing up into a crouching position. She took a deep breath before sprinting forward to the edge of the tower. With all the strength in her legs she pushed off from the edge.

Fox lay back onto his bed. Whoever was watching him would either run off and prepare for another day, or be in his room within the next three minutes. He planned to be there to meet them. If he died, then he would have nothing left to worry about anymore. He wasn't scared of anything any hit man would bring against him. He pulled out a photo. It was the last one he owned anymore, and he kept it in a place no one would ever guess to look. One of the pads on his paw was covered by a section of material that looked and felt the same as a pad should, but actually formed a pocket over his real paw. He had been captured before, and stripped of everything they could find on him. They never found the Hakurz chip or the photo he kept in that flap. He studied the photo. He was standing on a beach with her. She was laughing and holding her hand up in a "peace" gesture while he was kissing her hair. It was one of the most fun days either of them had had in their lives. He flipped it over. On the back there was a small sentence scribbled there.

"A nucc doloh cok we." he breathed. It described his pain more perfectly than anything else as he slid the photo back into the secret pocket on his paw. He instead slid his hand under his pillow. He felt the warm handle of the weapon underneath. He was ready for whatever would come at him now.

The sound of a glass chandelier falling from a ceiling reached his ears as he looked back to the window to see a blue fox with purple hair come out of a roll after smashing through his window. He had his gun up before she did, but he didn't fire. For a moment, she looked like…

He didn't get a chance to finish his thought though as he felt the sharp pain in his neck.

"So this is the price of hesitating to shoot, huh?" he laughed before everything faded to black.

A/N: Hello again. So this story is something I'm going to use to distract myself from The Original Models with. When I don't feel like writing that story, I'll write this one. I'll give this one a few days before I get the next chapter up. That's right! I'll actually have something done ON TIME! BTW, does anyone else think that Kursed should have a seperate character category from Krystal? I know they're the same person, but it would be a lot easier to find stories revolving around that idea than to check every F/K story to see if it involves Kursed. Just my thought. Alright, R&R.

-800M23

Oh, and just because I feel like saying it, I sharpened my nails into claws. It's kinda cool. And now you all think I'm a freak. lol, cya.