I groaned as my eyes slowly opened, a faint rhythmic beep echoing in my ear. I panicked for a second, remembering the attack on the school, only to remember what had transpired. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get Samantha's terrified face out of my mind. It had been a long time since I had seen someone that scared, reminding me of a time I would've much rathered to forget. I started looking around the room, using the act of studying my environment to distract myself. The room I was in was a typical hospital room, a very light tan shade to the walls with a painting on one wall, a large window out into the suburbs around it off to my right, a single large door on the left. It was still bright outside, and I found myself startling again when Fox's voice rang out.

"Done napping now?" I glared at him, feeling absolutely naked in a patients gown, not wanting to sit up because of it.

"I don't see you getting shot, do i?" Fox smirked from where he was sitting in the corner of the room, out of the way of everything.

"True, true, but then again, you don't see me charging headlong into a room full of terrorists, do you?" I shrugged, my attention focusing on the window. I was starting to feel very jittery, wanting to be back in my regular clothes and at least a sidearm with me.

"My cover's blown now, isn't it?" I heard Fox sigh, not having to look at him to know he had gotten up.

"Not entirely. Yeah, they know you have a job and that it aint flipping burgers. They have a general idea of what you used to do, but no real details. They know you're Star Fox, but they think you are just getting the education you missed out on." I nodded, still not looking at him.

"So no idea what I'm really doing there?" just after I spoke, I heard the door open and close, turning bright red as I recognized the female canine that had just walked in, Miyu following her as she mouthed something to Fox, looking like 'I couldn't stop her'.

"Nope. Not at all. Anyway, see ya later kid, hey Miyu, and Callie, right?" Callie nodded as Fox held his hand out to her. She politely shook it, Fox looking back at me before he left, silently mouthing good luck back to me. Callie stepped up to the bed, a bright gleaming smile on her face.

"It's nice to see you awake! I honestly thought you might die!" I rolled my eyes looking away in a vain attempt to hide how uncomfortable I was. Having a bouncy civilian like Callie around was of no help what-so ever.

"it wasn't that bad of a wound. Just didn't get a chance to control it." Miyu was rolling her eyes as she moved over into my vision, a smirk on her face.

"Alright tough guy, you can drop the act. You needed over a liter of blood after that nice little stunt you pulled. You're just lucky the bullet missed everything vital." I rolled my eye's at her as she lightly tapped my nose with a finger, taking on a sing songy voice.

"Cut the crap miyu, I've been in the middle of a twenty millimeter cannon burst before. A little rinky-dink nine mill wont kill me." Callie butted in before Miyu could respond, a shocked expression on her face.

"So you really are a child soldier then!?" I nodded to her, her expression softening. "Oh, that's so terrible!" I merely shrugged, not really caring.

"Could be worse. I could be in a mass grave right now." Miyu managed to speak first, rolling her eyes yet again.

"True as that may be, you really should work on your conversational etiquette." Callie spoke up, myself remaining silent as her attention focused on Miyu.

"So wait, how did you guys meet if he is just now going to school?" Miyu shrugged at her, inspecting her claw for some reason.

"Just a week ago, actually. He and Katt do know each other. Worked a few jobs." I stared wide eyed at her, shocked.

"So if you two meeting in the school was a lie, what else is?" I groaned, knowing this conversation was not going to end well.

"Not all that much actually. He really didn't want people to know what he was, just wanted to fit in, as terrible at that as he is. I wasn't lying about him talking about Sammy all the time though." I instantly butted in, glaring at Miyu.

"And who gave you permission to go blabbing!?" she smirked at me, her attention returning to Callie.

"oh hush you! It's about time you start talking to them! Think of it as a learning experience you idiot!" Callie was chuckling, a smile on her face.

"Wow, you two don't even need to act to seem like friends. I'd actually go as far as saying you are." Miyu just grinned, myself just covering my face for a second.

"Can we just move on, I really don't want to talk about me. At all. Callie, are you doing okay?" she gave me a shocked expression, myself continuing on my own. "I mean, what you did back there, it was a pretty brave thing. I'm livid that you didn't do what I said, but then again, I'm alive right now because of it. so thanks and again, are you okay?" she shrugged, her smile faltering. She was clearly affected by what had happened, I myself having been absolutely terrified in my first fight.

"I-I'm okay. I mean, I don't know. All of this….. it's a shock. Sammy….. Sammy hasn't spoken at all, after yesterday. She made sure I was alright and has been silent since. She barely eats. It's…. really scary, actually." She seemed to be panicking, and tears were starting to leak from her eyes, her tail tucked between her legs. I was instantly panicking myself, not really sure what to do.

"Callie, um….." I froze, not really knowing what to say. "Callie, do you think she would answer a vid call?" Miyu raised an eyebrow at me, clearly a little confused. Callie had a spark of hope in her eyes as I continued. "I mean, I've been through a lot of sh—stuff. Maybe I can help her a little." Miyu smirked for a second before suddenly leaving. Callie moved over to beside the bed and pulled her phone out, about to call her friend when something suddenly hit me. "Wait, you said 'yesterday'?" She nodded, calling her friend and speaking while it rang.

"Well, you were out for a while. I've been coming to check on you. Just happened to catch you awake I guess." I nodded and my attention turned to the phone's screen.


"Samantha! Run!" Samantha's eyes were wide in fear, her heart hammering. Her father was only a few dozen feet behind her. even at this distance, she could see the dark stain forming on his jeans, the crimson liquid running freely over his hands as he clutched the wound.

"Daddy!" the gunfire around her was deafening, every boom chilling her to the bone. A pair of ragtag looking soldiers came off a side street aiming their rifles at her father. He couldn't see them, his focus being on his leg and her. "Daddy! Look out!" he looked up at her, just before the two soldiers opened fire, several rapid cracks ripping at her ear drums. Blood ripped away from her fathers chest from multiple points, his eyes going wide. She screamed, going to run forward when someone grabbed her arms. A pair of silvery lances ripped away from beside her, one of the rebels dropping as the two bolts ripped into him. One of the white armored soldiers of the UEG stepping into her field of vision, weapon raised. The other ragtag soldier was snapping his weapon up as the peacekeeper fired first. The plasma bolt ripped into the soldiers shoulder as he started firing. Small chunks of concrete blasted off the ground, a small shiny fragment catching the day's dying light as it shot toward her, fast enough that she couldn't register what was happening before it was ripping into her shoulder, shrieking from the excruciating pain. Her hand shot to her shoulder, an almost unfeelable piece of metal sticking out of the wound, that the second her hand touched it, sent an excruciating shock of pain through her.


Samantha groaned as her phone played out a song, announcing a call from Callie. She was still in her bed, not wanting to move, and not even bothering to change out of her clothes from the previous day. She groaned as she looked at the screen, realizing that it was a video call as she answered it. the phone popped up an image of Callie, the all too familiar walls of a hospital room behind her, as well as the monitors that were usually in hospital rooms.

"Hey Sammy! Look who's awake!" the phone suddenly jerked over to the bed beside her, where Chris was, wearing a hospital gown and a bandage on his fore arm. She could see clearly the handful of small pricks of red on his face from the wall's debris. She was disgusted by the sight of him, nearly ending the call right there.

"Callie, why the fuck did you think I would want to see him right now!" the camera shifted back to her, where she had a panicked expression on her face.

"Sammy! He saved your life! I thought you might want to, I don't know, thank him!?" she looked off screen, just before the camera view got shifted, back to Chris, who's expression couldn't be called anything but serious.

"Sammy, are you okay? i…. didn't hurt you, did i?" she was stunned for a second, having not expected the first thing for him to say to be anything along those lines. "I mean, I kinda threw you over those desks pretty hard. I didn't want to hurt you I just needed to get you away from Garrick." She had to admit, it had hurt, tumbling over the desks, leaving her with several bruises. But Callie was right, he had been trying to save her. her eyes closed and she shook her head, trying to shake the memories of a gun being jammed against her head away.

"I….. yeah, I got a few bruises but…. Wait, Garrick!? You knew that women?!" he went wide eyed, panicking, stumbling over his own words as he spoke.

"Well, uh, yeah, I did, but no! I haven't spoken to her recently! I used to work with her, on earth! i… fucking eh, I don't want to say this but… I was a resistance fighter….. we both were until she… she umm…." Sammy cut him off, anger boiling under her skin. He was one of them! Those assholes that killed dad, caused all of this hell!

"So…. You were one of them huh?" he instantly spoke, the shift in her tone clearly not going unnoticed.

"Well yeah! we tried to protect people! The UEG just slaughtered anyone that stood against them, peacefully or otherwise! When Garrick wanted to target civilians, I went against her!"

"you….. you are just a murderer!" he had a shocked expression on his face, almost pained in a way.

"Sammy…." She instantly cut him off.

"Your resistance is the reason I don't have my father anymore! Why my brother has become a fucking soldier in the UEG! Why my mother cries herself to sleep every night! All of us! humanity! More of us live in the Lylat system now than our own homeworld!" Callie's voice cut her off before she could continue, feeling her anger boiling under her skin.

"Sammy! He i-isn't!" she heard the hesitation in her voice as the camera shifted back to her.

"Really? You said yourself he killed someone right in front of you, after torturing him!" the camera went blurry for a second, and she heard a startled shout just before it refocused on Chris

"If I hadn't done what I did, they would have killed a lot of innocent people. They had a tank, they were ready for a fight. If SWAT had gone in that early without knowledge of that tank, or where they were keeping people, they would have needed four times the amount of people! And you would be dead! And if he had warned them…. If they…" her anger seemed to crack apart as she realized that he was crying. Something about his expression was raw, different. Pained. Nothing like she had ever seen in him. "Miles….. he…. He was one of my friends. We fought together, we bled together. In the end….. he…. i…" she ended the call, feeling her own tears leaking out. Why was he crying? After how composed he was in that room, from what Callie had told her, how composed he had been the whole time? She rolled over on her bed, trying fruitlessly to wipe her tears away. why am I bothered so much by this!? He's a monster! The same kind of person that killed your father! She clutched the sides of her head as her mind continued to struggle with itself. But, he saved your life. And tried to once. He cant be a monster, can he? She wasn't really sure how long it had been, but she suddenly decided to grab her phone, finding Callie's contact and video calling it, just hoping she was still with him.


Callie eyes bounced between her phone in Chris's hand and his face, both absolutely shocked at the sudden anger Sammy had displayed, and the sudden anguished state Chris was now in. she slowly grabbed the phone from his hands, sliding it away in one of her pockets without taking her eyes off him. She glanced over as the door opened, letting Katt, Miyu, and Fox walk in. it still sometimes shocked her that she knew Fox McCloud now, not even realizing how big a celebrity he really was either. all three of them seemed to freeze, Miyu with a curious expression on her face. The other two were totally shocked, completely un-moving. Miyu was the first to move, rushing forward to hug him, hesitating right before she did.

"Chris…. Are you alright?" he shoved her off of him, shaking his head. She lingered by the bed, leaning on the edge of it, and still clearly concerned. Her expression seemed almost pained. Callie gently rested a hand on one of his, only for him to instantly shy away. she pulled her hand away when Fox's voice drew her attention.

"Um, i….uh….. we'll come back.., come on Katt." Fox quickly grabbed Katt, the feline fighting back for a second before he dragged her from the room.

"You two should go too." He was glaring at the wall, almost like he wanted to destroy it right then and there.

"And you, tough guy, better have another thought coming! I'm not leaving. Not right now. you'd say we're friends right?" He looked at her, a small spark of pain flashing through his eyes. He closed his eyes for several seconds before he nodded, almost so subtly that it was almost non-existent. "Then I'm not leaving. And I think callie here is too kind spirited to leave either." he didn't look at either of them, remaining absolutely silent. Suddenly, Callie's phone went off, causing her to pull it back out. A picture of Callie and Sammy was on the screen, laughing at a joke one of their friends had just said. She answered before she realized that it was a video call. Her friend still looked like a mess, still in bed, as she had been when Callie had called her earlier.

"Hey Sammy. You okay?" Miyu went silent, her eyebrows raised. Chris looked at Callie's phone, confused.

"i…. Callie, is Chris gonna be okay?" Callie smiled glancing at Chris.

"Well… Tough guy… is gonna be fine. After his stupid running head long into bullets, he'll be fine. Wanna see him?" she sighed on the screen, closing her eyes for a second.

"No. not now….. i…. just no." he nodded to Callie, gesturing at her to leave. Callie simply smiled, shaking her head to Chris.

"Well, I'm sure it helps him to know you forgive him." Sammy instantly glared at the screen, Callie shriveling up at it.

"I do not forgive him! i… just want to call a…. truce if you will. He saved me. Guess it's only fair." Callie grinned, unable to contain it.

"Close enough, now quit being moody and say hi!" she heard Sammy groan, but had already turned the phone toward him.

"Fine. Hi. Get well. So I can kick your ass. You got that?" Callie was about to yell at her friend when Chris surprisingly smiled.

"Alright. I'll hold you too that." Callie turned the phone back to herself smiling.

"Okay. Well, I'm going to head home. Bye Sammy!" Samantha waved on the screen as Callie ended the call, waving at the two in the room as she left, smiling.


Fox groaned as he sat down in one of the chairs, feeling absurdly tired after all that had happened. Katt dropped into the seat beside him, smirking.

"no moaning and groaning. You aren't that old yet." He rolled his eyes, leaning back against the wall. He wanted nothing more than to sleep right now.

"Yeah? tell that to the asshole in that room stealing my sleep. Think he's gonna be okay? Never seen the kid crying like that before." He opened his eyes as he spoke so he could look at Katt, the black feline shrugging.

"Well, he isn't alone. Seems both Miyu and that Callie have taken a liking to him. Some how." Fox grunted, smirking himself. His smile faded as his thoughts drifted back to the issue at hand, totally unsure as to what to do.

"Should we tell him?" Katt shrugged, looking away. a passing doctor forced her to be silent, her voice quiet when he finally got far enough to safely speak.

"I don't know. You know him better. Personally, I don't think he needs to know that one of the crazy ass human terrorists got away. ever get his name?" Fox nodded, his mind flicking back to the dossier he had been sent. The CDF had sent what information they had back to earth, asking about the members of the group for information, and to give names to the dead.

"Yeah. Arron Diaz. Cybernetic right leg, Hispanic. Not really sure what that means but knows his way around a battlefield. Has experience in both Battle Mechs and MICS systems. They aren't even sure how he slipped away, just that he was there." Katt nodded, seeming lost in thought for a few seconds.

"Well, think you are going to go after him?" Fox shook his head, having spent all night at the police department, trying to help the search for the getaway terrorist.

"No, not likely. We still have a mission. And we still don't know why An- sorry, Mister A, wants Samantha. We gotta figure that out, and I know a certain feline with some shady connections?" Katt groaned, having tried to leave her more colorful past behind already.

"You know I don't talk to them anymore right? Besides, who would watch Miyu then? Her parents are still on that system survey." Fox raised an eyebrow at her, earning himself a defeated slump of her shoulders. "So I guess you will. Fine, but if I hear anything happens to her, you are so fucking dead." Fox grinned, gently bumping her elbow.

"Oh you know me! She'll be fine! Don't worry about it! by the way, you should also take Falco with you." She groaned again, dropping her head into her hands.

"Great. The moronic bachelor is watching my friends daughter, and I have to babysit bird boy! I never should have accepted helping you guys." Fox laughed as he stood, stretching.

"Oh, you love us! and don't forget the money either." she rolled her eyes at him before standing herself, waving goodbye as she marched off down the hallway. Fox returned the gesture before moving back toward the hospital room, seeing Callie stepping out of there with a smile.