Tails found his way out of bed in the dark and retreated to the bathroom to find his clothes. Even in the shadows he could see a ring of dirt and blood in the shower. Tails flipped on the lights and looked in the mirror; he may have appeared clean, but he felt far from it.
With his gear back on, the fox checked his gun to make sure it still had a round in the chamber. Fiona was infamous for messing with his head in the smallest of ways. On his way out Tails tossed some cash on the dresser. No doubt this place was dirtier in more ways than one than it had been when got there. He did not envy the person who would have to clean it up.
It was still early in the morning but Tails wasn't sure when Fiona had left. He knew that meant that she had already radioed them in and the clock was ticking. Tails cursed himself for jeopardizing Mara's safety just so he could satisfy some selfish impulse; he needed to get the two of them out of here. The sky was still several shades of black, but only the brightest stars out shone the sliver of light advancing on the horizon.
Mara was already awake when he got back. She was sitting up on her bed reading in the dim lamp light.
"Enjoy yourself?" she asked nonchalantly after too much silence between them passed.
Tails could barely face her before, but now he couldn't even stand to look in her direction.
"I can never decide if the highs are worth the lows," Tails replied as he walked over to the window.
"Tails?" Mara called out.
The fox turned around to meet her gaze, but he knew despite his best efforts they were flooded with guilt.
"It's okay," she continued. "You and I, we were never going to work. We come from two different worlds. But you and Fiona have something special."
"Special is a funny word for it,"
"No it's not. If you two defy all odds just to spend time together, that has to be more than just desire."
"Maybe," Tails replied. "But you don't know what I am like when I am around her. I like the person I am now, without her, when I am around you. But at the same time the only moments I feel like I am truly alive is when she is next to me."
Mara walked up behind the kit and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Tails shied away from her touch pulling his body away as he made his way over to his own bed.
"I loved her," Tails admitted. "I thought that suddenly my life had turned around and maybe things weren't so bad. Then Kintobor took her from me just like he took my parents. Except now I have to watch as she destroys the lives I am sworn to protect. What kind of person am I?"
Mara sat down next to him, "Don't question yourself. It's not worth your breath or your thought," Mara said sternly. "You walked back into my diner that night because you knew in some small way that you could trust me when you needed help the most. You know people better than they know themselves. Look in the mirror and tell me what type of person you see."
Tails laughed, "You don't want to know."
"Then what about Fiona, what type of person is she? Is what she does really representative of who she is?"
Tails wrestled with the question, "No," he replied reluctantly. "But how can you love someone you can't be with, who turns you into a person you are afraid of?" Tails asked as he let himself fall backwards onto his bed.
Mara didn't respond, but Tails didn't expect her too. The question wasn't rhetorical, rather just a question that had no answer.
Mara let herself fall backwards next to the fox. The two lay on the bed together in silence as they stared up at the ceiling tracing the grains of wood in the endless maze.
Tails felt different around Mara, more down to earth as the beast inside him lay dormant. With her he was safe on an emotional level, knowing that he wouldn't have to worry about what it felt like to be alone the next day. At the same time her beguiling nature dulled his edge and made him soft. How many mistakes had he made because he cared about her. Tails had always deepened on Fiona to take care of herself because he thought she could, but he knew how that ended up. Was he just over compensating with Mara now?
Tails closed his eyes and let sleep find him. He knew better, but having your heart ripped out again hurt just the same as the first. Only time and rest seemed to make the pain fade.
Cat burst in the door, "You piece of shit, you didn't tell me Fiona was in town."
Tails eyes snapped open and he was on his feet. Daylight flooded the room.
"Son of a bitch," he screamed.
"Yeah!" Cat retorted, "my thoughts exactly." Cat threw open the weapon crate and grabbed an M-16 with plenty of spare mags.
"I hope you're ready to roll kid, cause it's going to be the fourth o'fucking July here in no time."
Tails was cursing himself under his breath. Where had his common sense gone? He knew better than to stick around that long. And for what? Sleep? Self pity? He pulled himself together; he would have to have this conversation with himself about his emotions later.
He was sure Fiona had to be confused too. No doubt she didn't expect him to actually find him here. But now that she had, it was war, both of them knew that.
The fox walked over to the crate and ran his eyes down the selection again. He pulled out an F&N 5-7, slid a clip in and handed it to Mara.
"I thought you said I wouldn't have to shoot anyone again,"
"You don't," the fox replied curtly, "But I would like for you to still have the option in case you change your mind."
She accepted the gun with a slight tremor in her hand.
Tails walked back over to the corner of the room and grabbed his barret just as chopper echoed overhead. Two loud thuds followed that shook the entire house.
"Cat!" Tails called.
"Yeah I heard em."
"You got anything bigger than this shit."
"Maybe, but you're gonna have to give me a second."
"Not sure we have that kind of time here," Tails said as he approached the window.
Fiona was out front barking orders at her agents. It was odd to see a Mobian in command of human forces, especially when those forces had nothing but disdain for their kind. Her men were surrounding the house. It was obvious she had no intention of making this easy for him.
Fiona looked up at Tails through the glass. She smiled before raising her desert eagle and pulling the trigger. Tails didn't bother to move, he knew she was just showing off. The round clipped his HUD clean off his head causing it to shatter into a dozen pieces. Tails grinned back at her as he felt his instincts coming out from hiding. It was one of their stupid games, who could get the closest shot without killing the other. Tails always lost at this one. He could never bring himself to shoot at her they way she did him.
Tails brought the barret to his shoulder and found Fiona in his scope. His .50 cal round was a bit bigger and tore the radio out of her hand sending a shockwave through her body. The vixen returned an annoyed glare.
The kit stopped dallying when he realized the SWAT bots were online. They had finally unpackaged themselves after being dropped off by the chopper. Tails found himself in one of their sites and ducked as an auto cannon round tore through the barn opening up a huge hole in the both the ceiling and the wall. The other bot disappeared around the corner to the other side of the building.
"Cat!" Tails yelled again.
"Yeah, yeah I got something," the mountain lion replied as he rolled a SMAW round in the room.
Tails looked at it for a moment before asking, "What the fuck am I supposed to do with that."
"I don't know, be creative, I don't have the launcher."
Tails gripped the round spinning it around in his hand until he found the fail safe. He ripped the chip out hoping that without it, the missile would still detonate without its launcher. The fox took one look out the window before heaving the projectile. It was a perfect throw, landing right at the bot's feet.
Dialing his scope way back the fox leaned out the window and took a quick shot. The armor-piercing round split the SMAW rocket open and it erupted into flames engulfing his mechanized foe. Tails frowned when he found that he had only seemed to wound the SWAT bot. But he knew an immobile one was better than nothing. The bot retaliated with another auto canon round. This time it removed an even larger portion of the building's facade causing Mara to scream and retreat into the corner by the door.
"Did you take care of it?" Cat yelled from down the other end of the hall.
"Kind of," Tails responded.
"Well they are 'kind of' inside, so watch yourself," Cat replied over the bark of his M-16. "Meet me out front in two minutes. If I am not there, I am dead and you are on your own kid."
Tails returned to the crate while he threw the strap of his barret around his shoulder. It would be useless inside. His hands found an old HK-53 and gave the bolt a slap letting it slam shut. The holes in the wall had reduced their cover to next to nothing and Tails let lose a stream of bullets forcing the coppers back into cover behind their vehicles. The kit approached the broken wall keeping bellow what was left. Leaning out he returned every shot the coppers squeezed off two fold. Fiona was still out front directing traffic when she stopped and took another shot clipping the foxes ear this time.
"Bitch," Tails screamed as peppered the ground at her feet forcing her to jump behind her SUV.
An odd pop echoed from the other side of the room but Tails ignored it as he slid another magazine into his weapon and emptied it. When he turned around Tails found Mara face to face with a copper holding a bleeding foot in one hand and his pistol in another. Tails walked up behind the man, removing his berretta with his free hand, and quickly put the copper out of his misery.
"You can't hesitate!" Tails yelled at her as the man bled out on the floor between them. "They won't."
Mara nodded her head still cowering in the corner.
"Thanks though," Tails added as he slid his berretta back into his holster. "That's twice now you have saved my life."
He grabbed Mara by the wrist and rang down the hall leading with his HK in his other hand.
Another copper made his way up the stairs and Tails knocked him over with five or six shots. Tails kicked his gun down the hall as the man squirmed in pain. His armor may have saved his life, but by the looks of it not much pain.
"Stay here and watch him," Tails said as he jumped onto the railing and slid down.
The room was full of agents waiting for him just as he suspected. The fox didn't waste any time introducing them to the fresh clip in his gun. When he hit the floor he rolled behind a fat wooden support beam. Most of the coppers had taken up defensive positions at the other end of the barn behind the bar and were unloading their weapons without reprieve. Tails rolled to the next pillar as his enemy's rounds shredded the first. It was impossible to return fire against so many enemies. Tails ducked lower as shots began to make their way through the second wood beam.
Then one of the coppers made a mistake. Tails could hear him pull the pin on a grenade from across the room. The fox flipped his weapon around grasping it by the barrel, ignoring the searing pain as it burned his hand. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted it as it flew through the air.
"Didn't even bother to cook it," Tails said to himself as he swung his weapon like a bat.
The nade collided perfectly with the stock of his gun sending it right where it came from. The agents panicked as they made an effort to leap away, but it was already too late. The room was bathed in a blinding white light and a furious crack that even put a ring in Tails' ears. Tails chuckled to himself as he watched the agents who were still conscious struggle to fight the disorientation. Most of them fell to their feet vomiting as their minds were overloaded with sensory input.
"Mara!" the fox screamed while he dropped the now empty HK, "Time to go."
He could hear her quick footsteps as she raced down the stairs. Her eyes widened as she looked across the room, "how did you…?"
"Story for another time," Tails replied as reached for the door while he drew his berretta.
Mara ran into the waiting day light first, but stopped just a few steps outside. Tails soon learned why.
"Going somewhere?" Fiona asked.
He and Mara were surrounded by at least a half dozen men. Tails kept his pistol trained on the velvet red fox. Tails had to admit even in her Capital City copper uniform she looked stunning. The two preformed an awkward dance as they kept each other in their sites while Tails kept Mara in his shadow. Then Tails smiled and holstered his weapon and dropped his barret to the ground, "That way wouldn't be any fun."
"Couldn't agree more," Fiona said as she too returned her weapon.
Tails was unable remember the last time the two have them had gone at it like this, and she had only gotten better. She led with a quick jab to Tails side, but he traded the blow a shot to her thigh. Before he could react he was looking at the toe of her boot which caught him square in the jaw as she did a backward summersault. The vixen giggled with satisfaction as her men laughed right along with her.
Tails opened his mouth stretching and testing the muscle while straightening his neck with his hands. No way was he losing to a girl, least all Fiona. She came at him again, this time with a strong haymaker. Tails was ready though, and countered the entire attack simply by placing the palm of his hand in the crook of her oncoming arm. He followed up with a strong knee to her stomach and smiled to himself when he heard her expel all the air in her lungs. Tails wasn't done though; he clasped his hands together forming a bigger fist and brought it down hard on the vixen's back as she stood there doubled over gasping for air. The blow sent her face first into the ground. Nothing he did would even leave a bruise, but it would hurt like hell.
Tails wasn't surprised to see all of the agents now had their loaded guns trained on him. If he was going to die at least he had the satisfaction of beating the shit out of Fiona beforehand. A loud horn sounded and several cracks of gunfire sent the coppers running for something to hide behind.
Tails turned around to find Cat fast approaching in a small open top jeep. Tails grabbed his barret and tossed it the vehicle. Mara had already found the front seat so Tails leapt right into the back. When he looked up he found a mounted .50 cal. The fox reached for a tether and connected it to his vest as Cat revved the engine and dumped the clutch.
The ground where they had just been exploded in a shower of dirt. The other SWAT bot had decided to intervene on the copper's behalf. They may have been slow but their auto cannons packed one hell of a punch.
"Thought you were going to take care of those!" Cat screamed over the engine.
"Been a bit busy,"
"I noticed. You just couldn't leave without saying good bye to your girlfriend could you."
Tails spun the mounted gun around letting loose on the bot before it could get off another shot. As well armored as they were, they were not match for an onslaught of armor piercing rounds. The SAWT bot quickly fell over as smoke poured out of the fresh holes.
"Happy now?"
"No," Cat replied. "I don't think your friends want to leave us alone."
Tails looked back behind them only to find that Fiona and her goons were hot on their trail. He didn't lift his thumb from the trigger as Fiona pulled out into the front in her SUV, no doubt the beating she got right in front of her men had set her temper off. The kit could hear Cat growling at Mara in the front seat, "Take the wheel!"
"Wait what? I can't drive stick…"
"Figure it out," the mountain lion barked back at her as he leaned out the door less vehicle. Cat slung his M16 around one hand while holding onto the frame with the other. He joined Tails in unleashing an endless torrent of lead on their enemies.
It was good to be fighting with a vet. Tails didn't lack experience, but the ice cold nerves of someone who stared death in the face for nearly twice as long as he had was a welcome addition.
Tails gritted his teeth as he turned his weapon, aiming lower at the more vulnerable tires on Fiona's SUV. The rubber shredded under the force of the .50 cal and the vehicle swayed as Fiona struggled to keep control of it. In the end it swerved too far and rolled into an adjacent van sending up a cloud of dust as the vehicles tumbled in unison.
Fiona wouldn't be happy with him for that. Tails was already mentally checking off another victory for himself in their far too realistic game of cops and robbers.
"Hey Guy's," Mara yelled over the gunfire. "I think we got a problem." The gearbox made a grinding noise as Mara shifted into fourth. Tails stole a glance over his shoulder to find that they were quickly running out of road. The coppers had already formed a blockade at the bridge's entrance.
"Shit," Cat said, "We are going to need to find another way around."
Tails looked down at the rest of the gear in the back of the jeep. A rail gun caught his eye and he wasted no time picking it up. The kit couldn't figure out how to hold it, but he put it on his shoulder all the same. Cat stopped shooting long enough to yell, "That's not meant to be fired from your…"
It was too late Tails already had one of the vans in his sights and he squeezed the trigger. Suddenly he had a whole new concept of power. The barret had been one thing, but if he hadn't been tethered to the car the recoil would have knocked him right off the back. His shoulder was burning in pain, but he had managed to find his target. The projectile spit the copper's vans in half sending each piece careening off the cliff on either side of the bridge.
Tails dropped the weapon and looked at the mountain lion who seemed to be yelling at him, but no words left his mouth. The fox realized the world was in silence. The thunderous crack of the railgun's projectile splitting the air at a speed several times that of sound had plunged the three of them into deafness.
Cat shoed Mara out of the driver seat and proceeded to ram through the debris. Tails spun back around taking up the machine gun again. As the arch of the bridge passed over his head Tails focused on landing his shots on the windshields of his enemies who were quickly closing the distance. However, the agent's vans were too well armored and the rounds did little more than crack the glass.
Just as the last round snaked its way up through ammo box and into the .50 cal, the ground beneath Tails feet began to shake violently, sending him to the floor. Had he been able to hear he might have noticed the flurry of explosions tearing the bridge apart in front of them.
Cat downshifted into third and the V8 roared. He was giving it everything, but the jeep was still shaking uncontrollably jarring them all to the bone. Tails looked on as he saw Mara screaming, or at least he thought she was screaming, while holding on tight, bracing herself against the frame of the vehicle. Cat was still stone cold with eyes fixed on the road and hand on the gearshift.
As they plowed through a plume of smoke the shaking stopped and an open expanse of road greeted them as it stretched out into the horizon beyond. As he got back to his feet Tails took a look out the back of the car to find nothing but billowing flames as the bridge collapsed in on itself and plummeted into the depths of the valley bellow.
Silence faded to ringing and the world slowly began to prod his missing sense. The breaks began to screech as their car came to a stop. Lupe stood on the side of the road bowing theatrically at the waist. Cat returned the gesture with a wave and what appeared to be a wink. Mara was yelling her thanks far too loud, proving that her hearing had not yet returned. Tails saluted the wolf before un-tethering himself and hopping down out of the back.
"Cut it kind of close there," Tails said as he walked up to the wolf leader with a huge smirk on his face.
"It's no skin off my back if any of you die. Way I see it now you all owe us."
Tails snickered, "Yeah I suppose we do."
Mara was still shouting, trying now to apologize to the wolf she had shot the day before, but he appeared to be made of stone and did little more than growl in response.
"I will at the very least apologize to you two for making her deaf, she is quite a racket."
"Oh that wasn't your fault," Cat added. "Miles here had the balls to fire a railgun without even mounting it. The only thing I can imagine hurting more than Mara's ears is Tails' shoulder."
"What did you say," Mara asked still too loudly as Tails brought a paw to his shoulder massaging his injury.
"So what will it be?" Tails asked. "What can I do for the Wolf Pack today?"
"Consider this one a freebee. I have been looking for an excuse to blow that bridge up for months. You just made it a whole lot more fun to watch."
Cat laughed, "Glad we could help."
Tail started towards the car, as Lupe responded to the mountain lion, "Cat, you may not be a wolf, but you are always welcome with us."
"I am sure I'll catch you around Lupe," he replied with another subtle wink.
The fox hopped in the driver seat, "I'll drive for bit Cat, I think you deserve a rest."
The mountain lion hopped in the rear, behind Mara and leaned against the back of her chair.
Tails put his foot on the clutch and put the car in gear. Before long he had the car up to speed, breathing easy as the wind rushed through his fur. He looked over at Mara who was holding her arm out the side of the car letting it float through the air. When she got bored, Mara began to rummage around in the vehicle's glove box. Eventually she produced several audio discs, none of which seemed to catch her eye until she arrived at the last one. She paused as she looked at the record in amazement before sliding it into the disc player.
A guitar rift tugged at Tails' ears which had finally stopped ringing. He had never been a fan of music, but the melody was mesmerizing. The song sounded and felt ancient, but that didn't stop Mara from singing along with it.
**This is a note that the following song lyrics do not belong to me. Lyrics: Metalilca - Nothing Else Matters**
"So close no matter how far," She began.
Too Tails surprise Cat picked up the next verse in a rather stunning voice, "Couldn't be much more from the heart." He never would have expected his raspy accent to carry a tune.
"Forever trusting who you are," Mara replied before joining with Cat for the chorus, "and nothing else matters."
"Never open myself this way," Mara sang as she stared at the fox with a smile on her face.
"Life is ours we live it our way," Cat called out in his deep voice as he embraced the tone of the song.
"All these words I don't just say,"
Even Tails half heartedly joined in for the second, "and nothing else matters."
Then Mara leaned her head against the fox's shoulder following his gaze into the distance as she whispered loudly into his ear, "Trust I seek and I find in you."
"Every day for us something new," the mountain lion replied from the back of the car.
"Open mind for a different view,"
This time Tails put some gusto into the next, "and nothing else matters," matching their pitch as best he could while putting arm around Mara. A smile found its way onto his face as well, he was having fun. Fun that didn't involve Fiona or letting the other side of him run free.
He let the two of them finish the song, joining in for the parts he learned. Their voices could not have been more different but somehow melded to form an enticing harmony. Time seemed to pass more fluidly as the bumps in the road dissolved into laughs shared by friends.
