CHAPTER 10

HELLO MY DUCKIES! Good stuff in the reviews, and for the couple of you wondering; Billie has an American accent, a very general one. Wolf's accent in SSBB is American for example except specifically from Texas. (I thought that fit him soooo well! That's why i'm using the design from SSBB for this story.) But Billie's is more generalized like Fox... Falco sounds like he's from Brooklyn XD But anyways: I would also like to say... I had been saving this for the Command portion of this trilogy but i guess there's no harm in letting you know now. I hated Command, hated it. The game-play was fine; and i ever liked the idea of Fox pushing people away from him for selfish reasons like how he didn't want to loose Krystal. But the general story... (or stories i guess?) sucked ass. The entire thing just felt rushed... So my version of what goes on in Command will most likely differ greatly. I had this idea about zombies... but i don't know if that fits well either. So we'll see! Enjoy the read... and well... i'm not going to ask for reviews this time. You all know the drill.

As they rode off of the highway and into the snowy fields the wind felt harsher than it had last night. Billie was recomposed and all business once again; but did not look at the trail Wolf was taking back to base she kept her head pressed into his back to protect her from the wind. Then she felt a sudden dip and the wind as well as the other noises from outside fell away. She looked up and heard the engine die as they found themselves once again in that same garage. It was now lit up with the midday sun; the metal looked new and polished: it was new Billie realized as she looked out of the windows. They were still wrapped up in plastic like they had just been installed, Wolf's frame moved away from her and her arms slowly drooped down from where she had been holding onto him.

"Alright so you'll be here soon?" Wolf said, Billie hadn't realized that he had opened a chat with Panther from his e-patch as he'd gotten up.

She gathered up her bags and stood up, Wolf turned to face her finishing his conversation.

"Just move your ass and cut the crap… Wolf out." Billie snickered wondering what Panther had said. They stood in the light and looked at each other for a minute. Wolf didn't remember anything from last night; but when he had woken up with dry blood tipping his claws and Billie nowhere to be found it had shaken him a bit. He wanted to say something… to ask how much she remembered, but at the same time he didn't want to bring it up. Even though his body felt physically satisfied; the details of what he had actually done were a tad fuzzy… He remembered their howling little ride, and dinner…checking into the hotel? That's where things got fuzzy, when he had closed the hotel door and looked in at Billie staring out of the window… then just physical sensations and the swirling of the color black.

"I'll get working then shall I?" Billie said walking past him into the dim base. Wolf just nodded; she brushed by him and her scent surrounded his muzzle in a warm swoosh. He almost remembered her kissing the top of it… but had that happened?

Wolf followed behind her after thinking for a moment; the base was catching some of the light from the windows now and wasn't pitch black. He walked down the hall to the area that housed the flight deck and watched her opening up her cargo hold. As the two unloaded the crap she had brought down onto the deck they heard a Wolfen pulling in; looked up to see Panther's vessel landing on the side farthest from where they were standing.

"It's dark in here…" Panther said strolling towards them after he had gotten out.

"Thanks for stating the obvious; now help Billie get this crap into the equipment room." Wolf grumbled handing him a heavy box, Wolf had carried it like it was nothing but when it fell into Panther's arms he looked like it had been heavier than he expected. Then Wolf turned and walked away towards the garage.

"Well where is that?" Billie called after him.

"Just follow your feet." Wolf said not turning around or stopping, just pointing to the corridor opposite of the one that lead out to the garage.

"Great…" Billie said heaving up one of the generators.

"Well, Wolf did say this base would be much smaller as it only needs to house the four of us." Panther said strutting behind her.

They walked down the short hall into what looked like was set up to be a kitchen; and there was another hallway on the side opposite to the one they had just emerged from. They walked into it to see it fork of two hallways; it got a little brighter out of the hall that was attached to the left side. Billie looked down it to see one large window at the end of a hall of doors. Then she looked to the right; that side was carved in much larger: she immediately knew that was for fitting equipment down that way.

"This way." She said in an airy voice turning on her heel. Panther followed for a little ways until it opened up into a large dark room.

"Whoa!" She cried almost tripping over something.

"Oh, this ridiculous Panther has a better way." She heard a smooth voice call from behind. And then a beam of light came from one of his shoulders; Billie looked up to see a light flipped out of his suits shoulder pad.

"Gee yah think you could've done that sooner?" Billie said in a snarky tone looking down at the mess of thick cords she had nearly tripped over.

"Guess it just didn't occur to me." He said almost sounding cheeky, but that was just how his voice sounded most of the time.

"Yeah, well point it over there." She snapped setting her generator down giving her arms a rest. Panther aimed it at the wall and Billie made out a fuse box and a large indent that had been carved purposely into the rock to house the power source.

"Okay…" she sighed. "We are going to have to make a few more trips." She said looking over at the greenish glow that the cat's eyes were letting off from her angle.

Wolf was up in the garage looking out at the snow banks below him; he was waiting for Leon to pick up the chat signal he was sending from his patch; and for no particular reason started tearing the plastic off of the glass.

"You got me at a bad time." Came a shrill but calm voice from the other end.

"Finally; how are things going out there?" Wolf said staring out at the clear blue of the daytime sky and tossing a rolled up thin plastic sheet over his shoulder.

"Well, they certainly weren't exaderating this guys love of the highlife. All he's done since I got here is gamble and pick up floozies to parade on his arms like trophies." Leon said a little bored at his watching job.

"Good, Billie's plan should work then; as long as she can get him alone." Wolf said still not liking the idea of her turning on the charm for some other guy.

"I could have wasted this guy 1,000 times already Wolf. In 10,000 different ways! Let me just get him tonight while he sleeps."

"I know you could have killed him alone Leon; but you heard Tyson; he wants Billie to be present for each one…" Wolf said remembering the look Tyson had given her, he also remembered himself not liking it.

"Yeah, that's what's bugging me… All good assassins know that you should take the first opportunity that presents itself then disappear fast… I can understand him wanting to leave a calling card. But why have Billie present? He didn't even specify that she had to do it… I mean, do you even trust this guy? 600,000 for 5 targets isn't all that impressive."

"Trust Dexter Tyson? No I don't trust him as far as I can throw the huge bastard… But we need this. The Fichina base is almost livable. We just need one more push." Wolf said sticking to his guns.

"Okay… I'll keep you updated… Oh crap he's coming." Leon whispered.

"Where are you?" Wolf wondered hearing a weird echo.

"Only ask questions you want answers to…" Leon hissed then hung up.

Wolf thought on where he may have been for a moment; then realized Leon was right and quickly walked back down through the base leaving the thought behind him.

"Damnit hold the light steady." He heard Billie's voice echo down the hallway.

Wolf smirked in the dark a little bit as he saw Billie bent down next to the two generators and Panther standing by the fuse box pointing his light down on her. Her rear end was pointing up into the air and her tail was wagging in what Wolf guessed was aggravation as she was cursing up a storm that would make a sailor blush.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Panther said looking a little frightened.

"Yes damnit!" she yelled shooting up and tossing her wrench at him. He caught it with cat-like reflexes and she grabbed some large pliers and some electrical tape and bent back down.

"Damnit, light Panther!"

"Sorry." He said quickly, he had turned to watch Wolf approach them. They both smiled at each other as Billie went on yelling profanities; and several big MF words. After several minutes she shot her hand up behind her.

"Okay I'm going to need some wire caps…" She said flexing her fingers around.

Wolf picked up a plastic container of twistable wire caps and handed it to her.

"Thank you…" she said then started grumbling. "Okay, you outdated piece of…" Then her hand came back up.

"Need a small wrench…" She said waving her hand around in the empty air. "Hello anyone there? WRENCH!" she barked impatiently as Wolf looked around; then he shot Panther a 'what the hell?' kind of look and snatched the wrench from him.

"THANK YOU." She shot in a snarky voice then they listened to her continue to bitch. "Okay, so that pipe will travel up the fuse box… Son of a-" Then they both heard a clang.

"Nailed it!" she said happily. Then she pulled herself up and turned to them. "OKAY! Ready for action." She said through a grin.

"What was giving you so much trouble?" Wolf asked looking down at the two clear hearted generators shoved in next to one another.

"I don't know what melon heads you got to put in that fuse box, but I had to drill a pipe through the rock just to create a path for the wires! Then I had to route all of them to the different fuses; and boy I really hope that ballast holds…" She said rolling up her sleeves.

"And now for the hard part." She smiled up to him.

They both watched in awe-inspiring silence as she carefully crouched down on the balls of her feet and delicately wrapped her palms and fingers around the two glass oval shapes. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath; as if she were centering herself to meditate… and then the black emerged from the growing stripes on her hands. It hissed and swirled around, almost starting to light up in the confined space of the glass; Wolf stared on at it, and as he watched it swirl and turn in the glass he felt something in his mind… he could not place it, whether or not it was a feeling or an actual physical sensation; but he dropped his jaw and everything started to fade into the color black.

He looked around at the dark void he was suddenly alone in, the pitch black surrounded him and made him feel warm… the same physical pleasure he got from holding onto Billie. He smiled and closed his eyes letting it wrap around him. Then he felt something; a tapping on the back of his head. It felt like a clawed finger, each tap got more and more aggressive, until they started to physically hurt. Wolf shook his head around not wanting to open his eyes… not wanting the warm shadow lace to flee from his sight like when you suddenly walk into a light room from a dark one and can't see for a second. But the annoyance finally became too much to bear and he shot his eyes open. He was standing right where he had been with Billie and Panther. He put a hand on the back of his head and looked behind him: darkness there, and nothing more. Then he turned back around and looked at Billie on all fours panting a little bit.

"Are you okay?" Panther asked looking at the stripes fade from her hands.

"Yeah… they just needed a lot of juice." She said and looked at the glass hearts; the shadow lace swirled around inside and continuously recycled itself in a never ending strain of energy just as she had designed the cores to do.

'They really did look like little heartbeats' Wolf thought; then Billie put the covers back onto the generator frames covering them from sight.

"Okay… Billie breathed out stepping beside Panther in front of the fuse box. She began snapping fuses on and twisted a knob off to the side.

"And then… there was… light!" She said and all of the lights in the base flashed to life; then all shut off except the ones in the room they were standing in.

"Ah, much better." Panther applauded shutting off his shoulder light.

"Good job Billie." Wolf said shrugging off the little incident he's just phased out of.

"Yeah… you know I gota level with you I wasn't sure that would work." She chuckled rubbing the back of her head embarrassedly.

"Well let's have a look at your handy work." Wolf said and the three turned down the hallway as Billie and Panther followed.

"Nice…" Panther chimed like velvet as the lights lit up in front of them illuminating the metalwork before them; then closed over areas they left behind. Billie nodded in agreement, it was very good work for having been done so fast: ah the scum of the smuggler's rock never failed to impress. When they arrived in the kitchen area the whole place lit up; the stone floors looked as though they had been scored to prevent slipping if the surface was ever wet with snow that was drug in. The counters on either side of the room were fresh polished metal; it matched the same pattern on all of the ceilings that held the motion lights. There was a small island carved into the center of the room with a metal tabletop; and four bar stools stacked neatly on top of it.

As Wolf started to take them down and place them around the island Billie found herself impressed once again; there was a stainless steel sink with bare pipes next to a mini fridge. She walked up to it and twisted the knob… nothing.

"We have to bring in an outside source of water and toss it into the reverse osmosis filter in the hallway closet…" Wolf said.

"Reverse osmosis?" Panther asked taking a seat on a stool.

"It's a way of purifying water so it's safe for consumption. It was thrown in at no extra charge because I only had them throw in one bathroom." Wolf said a little proud of his negotiation skills.

"You got ripped off; where are we supposed to get water?" Panther asked.

"Just melt some snow…" Billie mumbled looking at the fridge. Her stomach was growling having already digested that muffin she ate earlier.

"Clever." Wolf said over to Billie's back.

"Yes speaking of things safe for consumption; have either of you eaten today?" Panther asked, he hadn't grabbed anything before he had left Sargasso. And Wolf hadn't eaten anything, although he didn't really notice.

"Yes Wolf we crave sustenance…" Billie whined opening the fridge up… nothing once again.

Wolf rolled his eyes and opened up the bottom of a counter; he tossed a tube at each of them and took one for himself. Billie grimaced at the nutrient paste that pilots only ate when they were short on time, or money.

"Guess it will have to do…" Panther said losing his battle to hunger and tearing his open with his teeth. Wolf opened his in that way as well. Billie looked back down at her tube and reluctantly did the same.

"When you're done get yourselves ready for New Lullix and get to the flight deck." Wolf said walking out of the room.

"So… how has he been acting?" Panther asked when Wolf was out of earshot. She let out a big sigh and sat in the stool next to his.

"Panther… I know you are a womanizer but…"

"As you said I believe it was 'the blight on your gender'" He chuckled.

"Hehe… yeah well right now you are the closest I have to girl talk. Last night when I arrived…" Billie went on to speak to him of the howling, the great fun they had in the windy snow… and the little bit she remembered; but it still implied Wolf perhaps recalled less.

"Doesn't sound like he's gotten worse…" Panther concluded. "He was still focused on the job." Panther said in a reassuring tone.

"You think he's getting better?" Billie asked crumpling up her tube.

"You know something… I am a womanizer… but I admit to it. Wolf, he has never… well in the brief time I've known him been one to talk of women in any context really. I can honestly say the man has never had a serious relationship before in his life. He is always focused on the next mission, I was beginning to labor under the conclusion that perhaps he was playing for the other team. But I digress; maybe this is his strange way of trying to adjust to new feelings coursing through him; associating it with something he is familiar with, like fighting."

"So… should I stay? With him I mean; or should I let him go for his own safety..?" Billie said not knowing if she was doing harm to the poor man. She felt like she was; but dear God help her she was too in love to let him go anyways. She put her head in her hands not knowing what to do.

"Oh, Panther I'm so scared… I know something bad is going to happen, but I don't know what damnit! This is so frustrating." Panther just replied by putting a hand on her shoulder. Billie looked up at the handsome black cat with the white slit running over his face.

"Was it worth it?" She asked in a small voice.

"What?" He asked not understanding the question.

"The gazelle… was it worth it? Was she worth that much to you? Getting expelled, disowned… never even being able to see her again? Was it worth it?" Billie pleaded hoping he had some honest feeling toward that girl from so long ago.

"Was she worth it…" He said looking forward into space with the blank stare that was trademark to felines. Then he closed his eyes thinking back on those days.

"She was worth every goddamned second…" He said in a stern way that for the first time made his voice loose that charming silk quality.

Billie felt a strange sense of peace take over her body and her racing mind; and let out a beautiful genuine smile.

"Okay… Let's go kill this bird!" She said getting up excitedly.