Chapter 4.

Fox rapped his knuckles once more on the shhet metal door. "Jesus! I said I was coming the first billion times didn't I!" a rather annoyed voice said on the other side. The door opened up into the ceiling to show a husky in a wheel chair by the door control. "Fox!, long time no see man!" "Hey, Bill. How you holding up?" Fox asked. "Not bad, not bad. Hey, is that? Yeah it is! Come on in Krystal! Jeez, your still hanging around with this sorry excuse of a shooter?" Krystal smiled. "Nice to see you too Bill." Bill moved his chair so both Fox and Krystal into his shack.

"So." Bill drawled out. "What brings you to my liitle heavenly slice of hell?" Fox sat pulled a chair out and sat down across frm Bill. "We need guns." he plainly said. Bill shrugged and moved over to a blanket hung across a wall, he pulled it down to reveal several different guns across the wall. "This good enough? If not I got a ton of M60s in the back room." Fox eyed the arsenal and pulled a few stacks of dollars. "How's $58,000 for this hole stack and a few in the back?" Bill scratched his head. "Make it $60,000 and you've got a deal."

Fox threw the money on the table and started putting weapons in duffell bags. "I'll go get the heavies, be right back." Bill said and wheeled to the back. Krystal grabbed a spas-12 from the wall and cradled it for a second. "You never did tell me how you met Bill." she said. Fox pulled the next one, a AK-47, from the wall and put it into a bag. "We were friends all the way from grad school to college. He went into the airforce as a test pilot, I went to become a cop.

"When I reached the rank of detective, I got news that Bill had been in a crash. One of the engines on the plane he was flying shut down. It went into a nose dive and crash landed 10 klicks away from the base. Doctors tried all they could, but Bill's legs had to be amputated." Krystal carefully lowered the shotgun into a bag. "That's horrible. How has Bill been able to deal with that?" Fox shrugged and put a Barrett .50 cal into a bag. "Bill has always been a tough hound. He was a drunk the first couple of years, his wife sent him to rehab 3 years after he lost his legs. When he came out, he tried his best to live with his wife and daughter. And he did pretty good for 4 years, they were the best of his life."

Krystal loaded ammunition and grenades into bags. "What happened?" she asked. Fox stopped and looked the vixen in the eye. "They died in fire when we were at a bar with Falco and Slippy. He blames himself for not being there to help them." Bill came back with a M60 and a bunch of RPG launchers in his lap. "Okay, I got the stuff and the ammo is in the back room. Fox can you go get that?" Fox nodded. "Sure bud, I owe you one." Bill pointed at him. "You owe me pletny!" he called back to him. Bill put the guns on the table, scooped up the the cash and pulled a beer from the fridge. "Want one?" Bill asked Krystal. Krystal shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

She took the offered beer and popped off the cap. Bill took a swig of beer and grunted. "The only good thing in my life these days." he said with a laugh. Krystal pried into his mind for abit. His thoughts were sad, pitifull. He had lived the past years in sadness about what happened to his wife and child. "So, Fox tells me your a telepath. That true?" Bill asked. Krystal gave a shy smile and took a swig of beer. "Yes, actually. I can read the thoughts of others and even implant my thoughts into other's minds. A mental way of talking so to speak." Bill nodded and put his beer down on the table.

"Alright," he said. "what am I thinking?" Krystal slipped inside Bill's mind once more and scanned his thoughs. He was switching topics fast as to see if she could find wich one he was actually focusing on. She tried a little harder, going deeper into his mind without hurting him. "Let's see," she said aloud. "You just switched form thinking about a baseball game to the next air show. And your currently thinking that this is all to weird." Bill shook his head. "Yeah, really weird." he said.

Fox came back around the corner with 3 duffell bags filled with ammo and rockets. "All right, I think we're set for war." he said. Bill looked up from his beer. "Hey, what do you need the fire power from anyway? Who the hell did you piss off?" Fox sholdered most of the bags, carefully handling the explosives. "We got a job, killing off the leader of the Sharpclaw gang." Bill semmed to jump in his wheel chair. "You've got to be kidding me." Fox walked out through the door. Bill wheeled his way out behind Krystal. "Fox your kidding right!" Fox put the gear away in the car and climbed into his car. Bill stopped the door from closing and grabbed Fox by his jacket.

"Fox," Bill said. "Tell me you are not going after Scales!" Fox looked calmly into his eyes. "Bill, don't worry. I can handle whatever is going on." Bill let go of Fox. "Fox, promise me, no SWEAR to me, that you will take care of Scales and come out alive!" Fox closed the door. "I swear Bill, I'll take care of this job." Fox started the car and drove off. Bill looked after his friend. "You better Fox! You better!" he yelled after the car.

Fox hauled the last bag up to the office and sat it down on the desk. Falco opened the first bag he saw and pulled out the M60. "Holy shit!" he said. "Bill hooked us up didn't he?" Slippy pulled out one of the RPG tubes. "Must have, this is the newest model." Fox picked up an M16 and loaded a clip into it. "Alright, we're armed to the teeth. Now we just need to find clues to the-" A knock on the door interruped him. Fox turned to the door. "Get the stuff ready to go." Fox whispered to his friends. Falco and Slippy gathered all the bags and slowly walked to the fire escape.

Fox went to the door and clicked the safety off on the M16. Krystal pulled a spas-12 from the desk and loaded some shells into the loading chamber. She pulled the pump and loaded a shell into the chamber. 'Sharpclaw?' Fox thought. Krystal extended her mental powers beyond the room and into the hallway. 'Sharpclaw.' she said back. Fox motioned to the fire escape where Falco and Slippy were making there way down. Krystal made her way to the window and stood there waiting.

"Should we blow the door?" a sharpclaw on the other side asked. "Why not?" another said. "Scales said to do whatever we wanted. You got the charges?" "Sure! Right here in my bag." Fox pulled a flash bang from his pocket and crept to the window. Fox stepped onto the fire escape and hid behind the wall next to the window. "Wait." A sharpclaw said. "What now?" the other asked. "I left the timers in the car. Be right back!" the other groaned. Fox motioned fro Krystal to head down the fire escape.

It took about 5 minutes to get to the last level on the fire escape, by then Fox heard a small explosion back on the top floor, the sharpclaw had finaly returned with the timers. "Alright, let's move." he said. The group moved through the parking lot of the apartment building. A group of sharplcaw were haggling some civies on the street corner. Fox sprinted to the nearest cover, which happened to be a van used by the sharpclaw.

Fox peered around the corner, the sharpclaw were now arguing about what martial arts master could beat who. Fox slung the M16 over his back and pulled his bereta's from his shoulder holsters. He motioned for the others to stay down and wait. Fox dove from the cover of the van, pulling the triggers on the guns as fast as he could. He was able to shoot and kill all of them except for one. The last one he shot his knee cap out. Krystal, Falco, and Slippy came around the van as Fox wiped the gravel from his side. "Falco, take him into the van and start 'asking' for information. See if he knows anything about how they found us."

Falco dragged the sharpclaw into the van and climbed in. "Will do." he said, shutting the door. Krystal hoped into the driver seat of the van and pulled a hunk of plastic out from beneath the stearing wheel, exposing the wired guts inside. Fox pulled his M16 off his back sat down in the passenger seat. "Slippy, head back to the car and meet us at the club." Slippy nodded. "Got it Fox." he took off in the direction of Fox's car. Krystal connected 2 wires together, and the van started up. Krystal pulled out of the parking lot and drove out onto the main road.

There was a small window between Fox and Krystal leading backwards into back of the van. Fox pulled it open and looked inside. "-Stubborn aye? Well your going to tell me what I want to know, or the next place this rifle is going will be right up your-!" Fox pulled the slider closed. "Doesn't sound like he's getting anywhere." Krystal said, looking out onto the road. A loud screetch came from the back of the van, even muffled it rang in Fox's ears. "Alright! I'll talk I'll talk! Just take it out!" came a high pitch cry. Falco knocked on the slider and Fox opened it.

"Got the info. Apparently Scales knows about every mercenary office in town, don't know how but I can find out." he looked back at his victim. "Look I don't know anything else! I'm only a hired gun not a mob boss!" the sharpclaw said, fear dripping into his voice. Falco rolled his eyes and leaned on the divind window. "Well, gues we just need to get to the club and meet with Slip." he said. Krystal nodded and turned right at a stop light. When the van straightened out, the trio were left with the sight of a barricade of sharpclaw holding automatics and RPGS. "Out now!" Fox said. He and krystal dived out of their doors while Falco ran to the back of the van and shoved the doors opened.

"Hey, what's going on?" the sharpclaw asked. Falco turned as he picked up the bags, a sharpclaw had brought up his launcher and was aiming for the van. "Shit. Later pal!" he said to the captive. Falco leaped out onto the snow covered road and made it into a crouch when the van exploded into a fireball. When the van landed the sharpclaw raised their automatics and aimed for him. "Oh for the love of-" he started. Fox stood from his position behind a dumpster and emptied his clip into the group of shaprclaw. "Falco, over here!" Falco turned to see Krystal waving for him. He picked up his bags and sprinted for the safety of a brick walled building.

He slid behind cover and pulled a AK from one of the bags. Fox pulled back behind cover and dropped the empty rifle. 'Fox, we need to pull back!' Krystal said into his head. Fox pulled his Bereta from it's holster, whipped around the corner and fired a round into one of the sharpclaw spraying the one behind with blood. He pulled back behind the corner. 'Go ahead, I'll catch up.' He looked over to Krystal, worry was filling her eyes. 'No, we have to stay together. The sharpclaw travel in groups, if we're seperated we're dead.' Fox smiled, he knew the truth. Krystal needed him, wanted him with her. He looked over to her and smiled. 'I don't plan on dying today Krys.'

He flagged a small salute to Falco and fired at a few more sharpclaw. Falco got up from the ground and tugged on Krystal's shoulder. "Come on we have to go!" he said over the firefight. Kystal shrugged him off. "Go ahead, I'll catch up." Before Falco could say anything, she dashed across the street fireing a few buckshots into the group of sharpclaw. She rolled next to Fox and put her back to the wall. "What the hell are-" Fox didn't finish his sentence. Krystal pushed her lips onto his, cutting him off. Fox closed his eyes and kissed back. Krystal borke the kiss and stared into Fox's green eyes. "Can we talk about this later?" she asked. Fox slightly grunted. "Damn right we will." Krystal sensed a perved thought in Fox's head and smiled. "Wait till we're somewhere safe before you ri[ my shirt off."

Fox shrugged and loaded a fresh clip into his gun. "Can't blame a guy for having nice thoughts can you?" Krystal shrugged and shot a sharpclaw behind Fox. "Not really." The two ran down the alley away from the sharpcalw's barricade, leaving the sounds of gunfire and the curses from the thugs behind them. One thing was for sure, Scales was onto them and a war had just be started.

The buzzer went off just as he grabbed a beer, Bill sighed. "Can't a guy ever be in peace?" he asked himself. He rolled himself to the front doors as the buzzer went off again and again. "I'm coming I'm coming!" he opened the door, the roters slowly pulling the door up. "Jesus," he began to complain again, then saw the gun barrell in his face. "-Christ." he said under his breath. I'll leave the rest to your immagination.