He woke her up with some difficulty, and she looked up at him. "What do you want, ma'am?"

"I wanted to know if you asked Fillmore yet."

Foxy nodded drunkenly, and replied, "I sure did, lady. Now I'm just gonna go to sleep here in this barstool if you don't mind me."

"Go right ahead." Lightning laughed, and Foxy fell back asleep in a few seconds. "I didn't think that she was THAT tired." He gently tossed a blanket over her, then departed for his own bedroom.

The next morning, Lightning awoke to the sounds of the garage door going up, then quickly closing. He went back to sleep, only to hear it again about ten minutes later. He blinked sleepily, then rolled out of bed, going out into the main room. There, he found Foxy laying under the blanket with it up over her head. He figured that she was awake, since he hadn't put it like that the night before. He rolled over to her slowly, and nudged her gently. "You awake?"

She moaned for an answer and rolled over.

"I don't want to be a spoilsport, but the second time is never the best time." He got another moan from Foxy, then she sat up. She looked like she was paler then usual, and this struck Lightning as odd.

"Whatever you do, don't go looking behind the cone anytime soon."

"Why not?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know the reason why."

"I think I can handle it."

"Let's just say that if you eat before you go look, you're going to lose your breakfast."

"That bad, huh?" He got a slow nod from Foxy, then she laid down again, pulling the blanket over her head again. "I'll go get you a coffee, in case you want it." He got a moan as a response, and sighed. He departed the cone, and headed over to Flo's.

"Mornin', Lightning honey."

"Morning, Flo." He gave her a smile, which she returned.

"What was the matter with Foxy last night?" Sheriff asked, giving Lightning an appraising look.

"She must've gotten into some sugar or something." He replied airily, and ordered a coffee for Foxy. He took it back over, and found Thunder on the couch behind Foxy, his muzzle lying on her side gently. He looked up when Lightning rolled into the room, his tail wagging gently, fanning the air. Lightning greeted him, then set Foxy's coffee down on the table. Foxy rolled over to face him, her eyes drooping sleepily. He gently ruffled her hair with a tire and she moaned quietly.

Thunder whined quietly, then laid his muzzle on her side again.

"Thanks, Lightning."

"You're welcome." He gave her a soft smile, then looked over at her cup of black coffee. "You want your coffee?"

"Sure. Thanks." She sat up shakily, then took the cup as he handed it to her. She took a sip, then seemed to relax. "Nothing like a good cup of coffee after a crappy night, right?"

Lightning nodded, glad to know that she seemed to be feeling more awake. Thunder crawled out from behind her and laid at her side.

"Thank you, Thunder." She smiled down at him faintly, petting his side. He licked her hand, his tail wagging.

"Looks like your secret is not a secret anymore, at least not to Fillmore." Lightning told her, and she froze, just about to take another sip of her coffee.

"What are you saying?" She asked, her eyes instantly becoming confused and worried.

"You were really drunk last night, and when I asked you about it, you said that you'd told him."

Her eyes grew wide with panic and fear, and she set her coffee down. Suddenly, she didn't want to drink it any more. "Wh-What do I do? If he knows, then..." She began shaking slightly, and Thunder whined, laying his head on her leg. She petted him absentmindedly, her fearful green eyes looking into Lightning's blue ones.

"You've already told him, at least that's one thing you don't need to worry about. It should be fine, especially if he feels the same."

Foxy sighed, then laid down on the couch again. "Why is it always me?"

Lightning chuckled, then nudged her gently. "I used to say the same thing."

"Really?"

Lightning nodded, then nudged her again, his eyes turning more serious. "You need to be more careful about getting drunk. Sheriff nearly caught you this time."

Foxy nodded, then placed her hands over her eyes.

"I told him it was just a sugar high."

"Thanks for that."

"Sure."

She sat up, then grabbed her coffee. She felt like she needed a whole sinkful of coffee.

Mariana and Jack came into the room, looking for Thunder. "Morning, Foxy." Mariana smiled, and was slightly confused when she got a slightly shaky "Good morning." as a response. "You okay?" She asked, rolling over to the couch.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just sleepy yet."

"Are you sure? You don't seem very sleepy."

"I was just up late last night, that's all." Foxy glanced over at Lightning, who smiled gently.

"All right. You just seem different today, that's all." Foxy got a friendly nudge from Mariana, and smiled. Thunder licked Mariana's hood, making her squeal loudly and start giggling. Foxy cringed slightly at the noise, and Lightning watched her worriedly.

"Why don't you three go play outside?" He suggested cheerfully, and they trooped outside, leaving him and Foxy alone. "You sure you're all right?"

Foxy nodded silently, then laid back down again on the couch, yawning. "I'm going back to sleep." She told him, and he chuckled.

"All right then. I'll be over at Flo's, and so will the others." Foxy nodded with a smile, then curled up and fell asleep. Lightning drove outside quietly, trying not to wake her up.

"Where's Foxy, man?" Fillmore asked, looking around as though he suspected Foxy of hiding again.

"She's still sleeping." Lightning replied, and Fillmore figured something wasn't right, but didn't speak his thoughts.

Foxy awoke a few hours later, moaning in slight annoyance at the beam of sunlight shining into her eyes. She pulled her blanket over her head more, then rolled over and fell back asleep. She soon woke up again, looking around for her coffee. She spotted it on the table, and shakily reached out a hand for it. She hadn't noticed Thunder lying at her side, and jumped as she saw him, his tail wagging slowly.

"Hi, Thunder." She gave him a small, weak smile, then took a gulp from her now-cold coffee.

He wagged his tail slightly faster, laying his head on his paws as he watched her.

"I can trust you, right?"

He looked up alertly, pricking his ears and tilting his head. He woofed quietly, and she gave him a small smile.

"Of course I can. All you have to do is not tell anyone, and you can do that, no sweat, right?"

Thunder woofed again, his tail wagging faster, and Foxy smiled.

"All right. This is the second time I've gotten drunk on beer, and where I come from, I'm not exactly allowed to drink beer."

He nudged her gently, and she guessed he was asking why.

"In my world, humans have to be twenty-one to drink beer, and I'm only seventeen."

Thunder laid his head on her leg, gazing into her green eyes with his dark brown ones.

"Thanks for letting me talk, Thunder." She sighed heavily, and hesitantly gave him a hug.

She had read that most dogs didn't like hugs, and was pleasantly surprised when Thunder put his muzzle onto her shoulder, his tail wagging rapidly.

"You're such a great friend." She whispered, gently fondling his ears.

He licked her ear, making her laugh and draw back.

"Not a Wet Willie!" She giggled, rubbing her ear. Thunder barked, jumping down off the couch. Foxy gulped down the rest of her coffee quickly, and stood up, ready to go outside. She sank to the ground abruptly, her eyes rolling around dizzily in her head. Thunder yelped in alarm, and charged over to her side. She shook her head like a dog trying to rid its ears of water, and her eyes stopped rolling around like marbles. "I'm okay. Just stood up too fast." She told him, then stood up, this time more slowly. Thunder whined and nudged her hip with his muzzle. "I'm okay, really." She convinced him, and he trotted towards the door, trying to keep her in sight. She limped along after him, then her already-pale face paled even more, and she sped up, biting her lip.

"Thunder, stay." She told him in a rushed, desperate tone, and he hesitated before sitting down where he was. She rushed past him, hobbling as fast as she could. He whined, but didn't get up from where he was told to stay. He heard her rush around the back of the cone, then didn't hear her any more.

She had raced around the back of the cone when she felt like she was going to vomit up the very coffee she had just drank. She had just reached the same spot as before when it came back up her throat, hot and burning. She was thankful that the cones were large enough to hide her completely from view as she felt the irrepressible urge to vomit again, but this time, there was nothing left except that horrible taste in her mouth and the feeling that she was going to die in this place, no matter what happened.

She moaned, then limped hastily back into Lightning's cone.

"I don't think I'm going to be going outside for a while, Thunder. If you want to go outside, you can." She told him hoarsely, limping slowly back to the sofa, that battery acid-like taste in her mouth, which was dry. Thunder whined softly, then followed her into the room. When she laid down, he laid down behind her, gently setting his muzzle on her hip and gazing at her worriedly.

She weakly asked Thunder to lift his head a minute, then pulled the blanket over herself more. Thunder set his head back down on her hip as she curled up with a quiet moan.

"Foxy hasn't been out all day. Are you sure she's all right?"

"Sure she is! She's probably just cleaning up in there, since it's a mess." Lightning replied, although there was a large amount of doubt in his voice.

"Mind if I go in to check on her, Stickers?"

"Of course not, Sal. I'll come with you." He offered her a smile, then the two departed Flo's for his cone. The door opened, and Thunder looked up alertly. He looked down at Foxy, who was sleeping, then jumped over her and raced out into the hallway, looking at who was coming into the cone. When he saw that it was Lightning and Sally, he wagged his tail, then darted into the living room.

Lightning gave Sally a smile, then said, "See? Thunder's taking care of her." They rolled into the living room, and Lightning nudged Foxy gently. "That's weird." He muttered, pulling back when she moaned quietly in her sleep and rolled over, facing the back of the sofa.

"What's weird?" Sally asked, looking between him and Foxy worriedly.

"She feels hotter then usual." Lightning replied, gently nuzzling Foxy and feeling that abnormal heat again.

"Is that good or bad?"

"I'm not sure, but if she's been asleep all day, I would think that's bad." Lightning replied, biting his lip worriedly.

"Maybe we should go get Doc." Sally replied anxiously. Thunder whined softly, gently laying a paw over Foxy as he rolled onto his side.

"Thunder, stay here with her, all right? If she tries to go anywhere, go with her, even if she says not to."

Thunder nodded sharply, then Lightning and Sally departed Lightning's cone to go find Doc.

"You look around town, and I'll look down at the Butte."

Sally nodded, then began looking around the town. Lightning raced towards the Butte, his thoughts a constant repetition of 'What's the matter with Foxy? ' He slid to a stop as he saw a darker blue blur driving around the track. "Doc!" Lightning shouted at the top of his voice, trying to get Doc's attention. Lightning sighed with relief as Doc slowed down, then stopped at the starting line.

"What is it, Rookie?"

"Foxy."

Doc dipped his hood in a quick nod, then the two drove back towards town quickly. "Where is she?"

"In my cone, she hasn't moved all day, at least I don't think so."

"Why weren't you staying with her?"

"She had fallen asleep earlier this morning, so I left her sleep."

Doc glanced over in Lightning's direction, but didn't say a word. The two drove into Lightning's cone, where Thunder looked up from the couch, but didn't get up.

"It doesn't look like she's moved." Lightning said quietly, and Thunder whined. "She looks like she's been asleep all morning, Doc."

"She normally wouldn't be."

Lightning nodded, then looked to Thunder, who gently nudged Foxy towards Lightning. Lightning gently picked her limp form up and set her on his hood. He looked down at her worriedly as he felt the heat from her body spread across his hood. "She feels really warm, too." He replied, and began following Doc out of the cone.

At a sharp yip, he turned around to see Thunder running towards him. "All right, you can come."

Thunder jumped onto Lightning's hood, and wasted no time in curling up around Foxy. Doc looked over at Foxy worriedly, then the two rolled into his clinic.

About a half an hour later, he was still not sure what was wrong with Foxy, and Thunder wasn't helping by curling up around her and setting his muzzle on her side while Doc was trying to figure it out. She abruptly woke up, moaning hoarsely at the bitter taste in her mouth. "Foxy, don't sit up, all right?" Lightning told her worriedly, and she didn't even move very much, just curled up and drifted back into a dozing state. "At least she's awake. That's good, right?" He asked, looking from Foxy to Doc worriedly.

"Possibly. I'm not completely sure what's the matter with her, except that her temperature's up higher then it usually is, and that she's been sleeping more then normal." Thunder whined softly, setting his muzzle at Foxy's side. He wanted to know what was the matter with Foxy already. "I've got one possible idea, but there's some symptoms that aren't showing themselves." Doc muttered, thinking hard, and Lightning looked down at Foxy worriedly.

"Thunder, if you wouldn't mind, get down for a sec." Thunder obediently jumped down from Lightning's hood, and Foxy began shaking with cold. Doc watched her intently, then nodded.

"That's what it is. She'll be all right in a few days, take her back over to your cone."

"So you know what's wrong with her?"

"I've got a good idea."

Thunder jumped back up onto Lightning's hood, curling up around Foxy again. Lightning rolled out of Doc's, looking down at Foxy in slight relief. At least they had found out what was wrong. He gently set Foxy on the couch in his cone, covering her with the blanket again. She moaned hoarsely, but barely stirred. Thunder jumped onto the couch by her feet, then slowly walked back towards her head until he was behind her. He laid down again, setting his head on her side gently. Lightning smiled down at Thunder, then gently ruffled his ears.

"Good boy, Thunder. I'm going to go tell Sally that she's all right, or will be, anyways." Thunder was already dozing, his paw laid protectively over Foxy as she dozed into a deeper sleep. Lightning grinned, then left his cone quietly.

"Is she going to be all right?" Sally asked worriedly, and Lightning nodded.

"At least, that's what Doc said."

Fillmore looked their way worriedly, but didn't say anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(Page Break, completely different thought)

About an hour later, Fillmore went back to his dome, and stopped abruptly. He heard a shrill chirping. Normally he would've thought it was a cricket, but it sounded... different. He began looking around, and was slightly startled when a dark shape jumped out of the patch of grass he had been searching. He rolled slightly closer, and found a frog. "Hey, man." He replied, smiling down at the frog. It let out another shrill chirp, and Fillmore lowered his front end, looking down at it in slight amusement.

"C'mere, man. I don't bite." The frog obediently hopped over his way, and he held out a tire for the frog to jump onto. It suddenly hopped off towards his right, and he followed it. "I ain't gonna hurt ya, man." He tried to convince the frog that he was harmless, but the frog turned around and hopped back the way it had come. "Hey, come back." Fillmore told it, following after it. He caught up to it quickly, and tried to grab it as gently as possible.

The frog had other ideas however, and slipped through Fillmore's tires as he jumped away. "C'mere! I like frogs, man!" His voice carried over to Sarge, who scowled over in his direction.

"Keep it down, hippie!"

"No way, I think this frog is kinda deaf, man!" Fillmore told Sarge, who rolled his eyes.

"Frogs can't be deaf, hippie."

"How do you know?" Fillmore shot back, then continued calling and chasing the frog.

Sarge sighed, shaking his hood in disgust. He finished lowering the flag, then rolled into his Hut.

Chick passed by Fillmore's dome on his way to his trailer, and heard Fillmore yelling.

"What is it?"

"It's a frog, man!"

Chick nearly burst out laughing. He rolled over to where Fillmore had cornered the frog, and was now trying to pick it up. "No, that's not how you do it. You've got to be gentler."

Fillmore tried picking the frog up again, and this time, it didn't jump out of his tires. "Thanks, man."

"No problem. I used to catch frogs all the time when I was a kid."

Fillmore gently held the frog in is tire as he went to go get a container to put it in.

"You're going to keep it?"

"Yeah, man. Why not?"

"It's a frog."

"Okay." Fillmore replied with a shrug, and Chick sighed.

"Unless you've got water around here, you won't be able to keep him for very long."

"No problem, man."

"All right, then enjoy your... new pet." Chick sighed again, rolling out of Fillmore's and back to his trailer. Fillmore put the frog into a bucket, then placed a net over it so the frog couldn't get out. He decided that he was going to give the frog to Foxy when she was feeling better. "Night, man." He called to the frog, and got silence. He laid down at Foxy's chair as he usually did out of habit, then drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(Bit of comic relief, now back to Foxy)

Over in Lightning's cone, Foxy rolled over in her sleep, moaning quietly. She cracked her eyes open again, feeling more awful then she had ever felt. She felt movement at her feet, and began getting up weakly. She heard a whimper, a jingle, then there was a paw placed on her shoulder, gently pinning her down. "All right, I'm not getting up." She croaked, and recieved a gentle lick before she felt the firmness in the paw relax. She sighed, then faintly remembered Lightning telling Thunder to keep her there, lying down. She winced as she got a slight headache, then rolled over, pressing her face against Thunder's side. The fact that he was there made her feel slightly better, and she drifted back into an uneasy sleep.

Lightning came in, and saw her sleeping. "Is that all she's going to do until she gets better?" Lightning whispered to Thunder, who whimpered before laying his muzzle down on Foxy's side again. Lightning gently ruffled her bangs after giving her a sympathetic nuzzle, and was surprised when she awoke and yawned, cringing as her throat felt like it was being slashed apart slowly. "You feeling any better then before?"

Foxy shook her head, moaning as she got a headache.

"Think you'd be up to drinking a little coffee or not?"

Foxy shook her head again, and asked in a hoarse, raspy moan if there was any water around.

Lightning nodded, then left to get some for her. He returned shortly, and she took the cup off his hood.

"Thanks." She croaked before taking a sip. It burned her throat, but her mouth was so dry she would've tried to drink oil if she would've been close to a can. "Thanks, Lightning." She croaked in a whisper, and Lightning smiled at her sadly.

"No problem. You want anything else?" Foxy shook her head, then snuggled back under the blanket to fall asleep. Thunder continued laying at her side, acting like a heating blanket. Lightning smiled, then nudged her gently. She cracked her eyes open to look at him drowsily. "Get better, all right? The others miss you."

Foxy smiled weakly, then gently set her hand on his hood. "I'll try."

Lightning shook his hood. "Don't try. Just do it."

Foxy smiled a little more, then nodded slightly. "Okay."

"Good." Lightning smiled, then watched quietly as she curled up under the blanket. He went for another blanket, and soon returned. He draped the heavy fleece blanket over Foxy's now-dozing form, and she didn't even stir. He sighed, then fell asleep at her other side.

The next morning, he awoke to... nothing. Absolute silence. He happened to glance over at the couch, and found Foxy missing, the blankets messily tossed up, and Thunder was gone too. Lightning relaxed slightly when he saw that Thunder had disappeared also, because he knew that wherever Foxy had gone to, the giant dog was sure to be right by her side. He went looking for her desperately, and found her coming around the back of a cone, Thunder following after. "You all right?" He asked, his eyes filled with concern.

She nodded slowly, then replied in a rusty croak, "What, can't a girl use the facilities without getting twenty questions?" and Lightning knew that she was trying to cheer him up.

Her entire form looked like it was drooping because of her illness, even her hair losing its perfect waves and silky smooth texture. "Come on, let's get you back inside." He said gently, and she climbed onto his hood without a second thought, curling up and shivering. Thunder jumped up onto Lightning's hood and curled around her, gently resting his head on her side. She uttered a moan that sounded more like a whimper, and Lightning glanced down at her in pity before rolling back inside his cone. Just as Foxy pulled the blankets back over herself, there was a banging at the door.

Lightning went to go answer it, and found Red parked there, blushing. "Here to see Foxy?" Lightning asked after greeting him, and he nodded. "I'll go get her." Lightning rolled back into the room, then gently nudged Foxy. "Seems like you've got a visitor."

"Who is it?"

"It's a surprise."

Foxy moaned, but climbed onto Lightning's hood anyways. Lightning rolled out into the main room, and Red waved a tire shyly.

"Hi, Red." Foxy croaked with a weak smile, and Red watched her with his sadder-then-ever brown eyes. He shyly produced a small bouquet of wildflowers, blushing bright red. "Thanks, Red." Foxy managed a small, weak smile, even though she felt awful. The flowers had cheered her up greatly, and Red noticed, because he rolled forwards slightly, and gently petted Foxy's hair with a tire, softly enough that Foxy felt no pain even though her head was aching fit to explode. She leaned against his tire more, purring quietly and drooping her eyelids shut as Red continued petting her, content for the moment to be fussed over. Red gently slid her from Lightning's hood, and cradled her in a tire, where she curled up, yawning even though her throat ached. She felt safe with Red, safe enough to fall asleep in his grasp. She didn't even feel herself being hugged gently by Red before he set her on Lightning's hood again.

Lightning watched with a grin, knowing that Red cared about Foxy a lot, and would be heartbroken if Foxy ever left the town.

Red blushed, hesitated for a few seconds, then sped off back towards the firehouse. Lightning chuckled, then drove back inside with Foxy still asleep on his hood. He gently set her on the couch, and Thunder laid down behind her again.

Together, the two pulled her blankets over her, then Lightning departed the room, leaving Thunder to be her heating blanket, at least for a while. She woke up briefly a few hours later, but only for a few minutes, just long enough for her to roll over and hug Thunder like a stuffed animal. She fell asleep hugging him, and his tail wagged. Lightning drove into the room, and saw the two playmates snuggled together. He grinned, then drove over to pet each gently before driving out of the cone. Thunder fell asleep himself soon afterwards, and woke up to Foxy still asleep, hugging him to her. He settled underneath the blankets more, then fell asleep again. Foxy woke up later that evening, looking around drowsily.

She had heard a noise, and couldn't discern where it had come from. She felt a gentle nudge at her back that told her Thunder had gotten up also, and he whined. "I heard something." She told him, and he suddenly pricked his ears up fully, so they looked like bat ears. He jumped down from the couch and charged into the next room. Foxy thought she heard him growling as he left. His loud barking startled her, and apparently Mariana, since she sped into the room, then jumped up, snuggling close to Foxy.

Foxy comforted Mariana the best she could, then asked in a raspy, dry voice what had happened.

Mariana replied, "I saw something scary out my window!"

"What did it look like?"

"It was gigantic, and it had these two things on either side of its body, and it had hooks for feet, I think. And it was covered in something weird looking. Not exactly fur, but not exactly metal, either."

"That sounds like an owl. It's okay. They don't hurt you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, they're really cool." Thunder trotted into the room, then jumped back up onto the couch, nuzzling Mariana gently. "Night, Mariana." Foxy offered her a weak smile, and Mariana nodded.

"Night, Foxy. Night Thunder." Mariana got down from the couch, then departed the room. Thunder laid back down behind Foxy, who smiled and patted him gently. Foxy laid back down, then Thunder gently laid his muzzle down on her side, placing a front paw over her side protectively. Foxy yawned widely, her throat aching again, then pulled the blankets over her and Thunder.

"Night, Thunder." She saw his tail wag a couple times, then they drifted off to sleep.

Aww, poor Foxy. I was sort of going for the Get-A-Hangover-And-A-Cold/Stomach-Bug-At-The-Same- Time sort of thing, even though it might be completely impossible... Anyways, how'd you all like the bit with Fillmore Vs. the Frog? He pops up in another chapter, so don't worry. :) See you next week, Liz