Chapter 9

Zarik watched Angela help put things away again.

She had fallen into suit here really easily.

He appreciated that. She fit in with the rest of his family pretty well.

Well, most of it.

At any rate, they actually had a job to do here.

He waited for her to get done before getting up from where he'd been working on a design with Mira.

He was fairly satisfied in the new look that his little house on wheels would get.

It was about time to change things up and he needed to talk to Angela about it.

He moved to where she was coming out of the kitchen and intercepted her.

"So, want to wander the town with me? I can show you all the good places."

Angela looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Go on dear, it's your vacation from hunting bad people." His mother said as she urged them both towards the other door.

Zarik grinned at his mother. "See Ang, she won't let you help until you get back."

"Fine." Angela huffed.

He ruffled her hair, sliding his hand down the braid.

She blushed slightly as she yanked it out of his hand.

"Come on then." She pushed past him and he looked at his mother again.

She looked happy and it made him feel better about starting the relationship he wanted with Angela.

His mother approved of her and that honestly mattered to him.

If his family hadn't...then he supposed he'd have left for good this time.

He hurried to catch up with Angela, slightly startled by the feeling.

He'd have left permanently for her. And he loved his family. Even his brother.

As they got to the front door, Angela looked up at him.

"So where first?" She asked as they went out to the courtyard and got surrounded by the dingos.

Zarik motioned with his hand for the dingos and Howzer got up from the pillow by the fountain.

She frowned as she watched the aging beast come towards them as the others headed off away from them.

"Well, first off, the bluff overlooking the oasis itself. I think you should see it in the morning light. I used to love it."

"How far is it?" She sighed.

He closed the gate behind them as they headed to the driveway.

"Not very far at all. Maybe a quarter of a mile? Ten minute walk, I promise." Zarik said.

"And we need the dog-"

"Dingo."

She frowned at him as they walked along the road away from the house. "We need your dingo for a reason?"

"He needs the exercise." Zarik shrugged. "Plus he'll be able to help us investigate."

Angela nodded.

He reached down and took her hand.

"I know we're here for work, but I want you to enjoy it here too." He said.

"Dingo..." Angela sighed.

"I don't want to play with your heart Ang. I really do love you."

"Zarik." She huffed. He looked down at her. "I...last night..."

He let go of her hand and looked away. "Sorry."

She yanked on his arm and he winced as she grabbed over the bandaging. "Don't apologize." She snapped at him before letting go of his arm and taking hold of his hand. "I don't think we should have ever started this up drinking, but hangovers aside, I don't regret starting this."

He looked down at her when she pulled him to a stop.

She reached up with her left hand while her right kept hold of his left.

He felt her grip the front of his vest and she tried to pull him down.

She easily had the strength to do it by force, but he went willingly to her.

"Do you?" She asked as he leaned in.

He smiled. "Never." He used his right hand to pull her closer to kiss her.

xXx

Angela was relieved to know Dingo was serious.

And to know that he had some real experience in kissing.

He didn't feel like he was forcing her, but at the same time, she had no real desire to break away from him either.

She completely forgot where they were until he pulled back. She looked down at the road. "We should probably keep walking."

"I suppose." He smiled.

In all honesty, she liked him looking happy. Seeing him angry or sad was never all that great.

Of course, seeing him angry over her was a bit nice in a different kind of way.

She should have known he would always take her seriously when he was willing to sit through torture rather than see her hurt.

He kept hold of her hand as they continued to walk in silence.

As they started up a slight hill, she stared out at the oasis.

"This is pretty nice." She sighed.

"Yeah? I used to come up here every day as a kid." He said. "We're almost to the top."

"Good." She leaned into him slightly. "Thanks Zarik."

"For?"

"Taking me on. You didn't have to, nor did you and Frontier have to save me, but you did."

"Just because you weren't an agent anymore doesn't mean we didn't get along pretty good as a team. It's hard for someone like me to find anyone who works with my style." He shrugged. "And besides, I liked you even then."

Angela sighed as they finally came up to the flat area at the top of the hill overlooking the oasis itself. "Me too Zarik."

He hurried her over towards the edge of the outlook.

"So, what do you think?"

She just stared out over the water for a moment, seeing all the green and blue and various other colors in the small flowers and the pain on the houses to the left. His parents house was about the only one not painted and she could see the back side of the house.

It was beautiful.

"Honestly? I'm surprised you ever left this place." She said.

"I knew I'd never get the training I needed here though. Oasis didn't have much in the way of tech back then. I've been slowly sending more tech back here over the past years to help them improve. Now I'm finally in a position where I can do some real good in the area. It's a target because of the water supply here and the natural beauty of it, but the local hunters have been keeping on top of it for the most part."

"Except with this incident." Angela sighed.

"They may not have known about it until now. Down here, a victim doesn't often have anonymity to report crimes like rape. Which makes it easy for targeting people. And those like Mira...are few and far between. Not everyone has someone like my father to go to, someone who will take a stand. Even fewer have a brother who is a professional hunter. One who is willing to get his hands dirty doing what's right."

"We will." Angela said. "I promised to help you and I won't run away."

"I just don't want you in danger either."

"I know. I won't be taken by surprise again. Besides, I have the armor now. All I have to do it press the button on the bracelet right?"

He nodded. "True enough. And you are good against most in combat. Unlike me."

"Don't sell yourself short Zarik. You're good too. Just better from a distance."

He grinned for a second before tugging her to sit on the edge of the bluff with him.

"Angela...what do you think of being stationed out of Oasis?"

She frowned. "As in...moving here?"

"Yeah. My family will put us up until we get a place of our own, or they'll let us stay there in the house forever, whichever you choose. I just...I think it's about time I settle down in one location now." He said. "But I don't want to lock you down with me if you don't want to stay."

"Zarik, I've never cared where we were, just that...you don't leave me behind." She leaned into him and he held her close. "You're the only person who knows about who I was. And I like being here with you. I had my chances to leave and I didn't. Partly because you're all I know and partly because without being your partner I don't have much to do."

"That's my point Ang. Everything we've done, we've been together. I want you to be able to explore if you want."

"I can. I'm sure if I'm bored in a year, I can find something to entertain myself for a while." She said. "But I'll be fine as long as we're still working."

"Good." He sighed.

xXx

Zarik led her around the small town, greeting some of the people he used to know.

Covertly, Howzer was sniffing around for the scent of his little sister in distress.

Hopefully the scent wasn't too old for the old tracker to find.

It was nearing dusk when he finally caught something.

They started to follow the old dingo out towards the far side of the oasis, where the sands could get dangerous.

"Careful of your footing." Zarik told her as he kept a hold on her hand. Loose enough that they could easily separate, tight enough that he could catch her.

"Why is he going out this way?"

"Not sure yet. He's supposed to be finding Mira's scent out here. She knows better than to come out this side of the oasis, so it must be related." He explained softly, trying to be careful of anything that might be able to hear him.

"Ah. It's a beautiful area, if it weren't so dangerous." Angela looked out over the sand to her left and the water to her right. "What makes this area of the oasis so dangerous?"

"The wildlife mainly. Wild dingos are aggressive over territory. Howzer is a familiar scent around here though, so they should leave us alone. He might be getting old, but he's still an alpha." Zarik said.

Howzer made a huffing growl before he picked up his ears and lowered his tail.

Zarik knew that posture.

He'd caught live scents.

He carefully pulled out his pistol and the knife tucked in the holster at his hip and handed Angela the knife.

"What did he find?" She whispered.

"Something alive."

He crept along the underbrush with his faithful and well trained dingo, Angela at his back, exactly where he'd prefer her most times.

It wasn't that he didn't trust her skills, he knew she could kick ass better than anyone else he knew. He just wanted her safe.

He didn't think it was possible that they'd solved the case so quickly, but then again Howzer was specifically looking for Mira's scent.

Most Hunters didn't have a pack of trained dingos as a resource for tracking things.

If he and Angela decided to really stay here as a home base and work out of the area here, then he'd be able to spend more time actually training his pack for real hunting. It was a good idea anyway.

He stayed low as he followed Howzer.

As they came to the heavily bushy area that normally housed wild dingos if he remembered correctly.

Zarik caught the scent of decay and looked around where they were.

That was when he saw the mostly rotten and scavenged corpse of a wild dingo.

Most likely an older one who had just died off. Or so he thought until he saw two more.

He started to follow Howzer into the thick bushes and Angela followed, gripping the knife tightly in her right hand.

Zarik motioned for her to stay silent, even though he knew she knew better.

Coming through the thick bushes, he started hearing voices. At least one clearly male, the other faint one sounded female, but not in distress.