What's a Fox to a Wolf

Wolf lounged on his sofa, fidgeting as he watched through a half-closed eyelid the ever moving stars beyond his living room's window. Leon had gone on a scavenging mission and Panther had insisted on 'preparing dinner for the special occasion'. Wolf cursed in a low mumble something about getting smashed at the bar instead of having a fancy dinner.

He knew Panther's intention was to impress and accommodate Krystal, as he had been doing ever since she showed up unannounced in the middle of the night. From that day on, Wolf had found a certain distaste for the vixen, but could not find rational reasons to object to her presence or interest in joining Star Wolf.

It was not like Wolf hated her. He had accepted her into his ranks and evaluated her performance like he would Panther and Leon — and she matched them quite evenly flying any given ship. And yet, he struggled to change his sourness towards her. After all, she used to date none other than Fox McCloud — Wolf's... ex-rival (to put some sort of title to their relationship). How could he trust her loyalty to Star Wolf would be stronger than years of companionship with Star Fox?

Wolf remembered the Aparoid War. How Krystal flew at Fox's side with admiration sparkling in her gaze. How she easily deflected Panther's advances and stated to have only eyes for Fox. Could a single year have changed that?

A grunt of disgust at his own irrationality escaped his mouth. Krystal had already proven she was no longer interested in Fox — or even Star Fox for that matter. Well, theoretically, he could just reject her on the grounds of not liking her, but he was too stubborn and proud to resort to such pettiness. Plus, Panther was ecstatic about her joining and even Leon was starting to like her for her snappy humour and close combat skills. It was getting harder and harder to rationalize his bad mood.

And truth be told, Wolf knew it was unfair to blame Krystal for his sourness. He had barely spared a thought for her since the Aparoid War. No, it was on Fox his thoughts lingered. Thoughts of anger, thoughts of frustration — Krystal was simply a catalyst to those feelings. A scapegoat for his bad temper.

"Hey! Are you there? Boss!"

He blinked at the voice and noticed he had answered a call in his comm by reflex, but had forgotten to say anything, so lost in his own mind that he was.

"You listening?" the voice repeated.

Wolf groaned. "Yes, Miyu. What is it?"

"All right, I'll just repeat myself then," she mumbled, not quite low enough to not be heard, "I was asked to mod a comm here, and I wanted to ask if it was OK with you."

Of course, all communicator modifications to bypass the Haven's internal signal jamming needed approval from Star Wolf. Being the only member who was otherwise unoccupied at the time, it fell to Wolf to review such requests. It usually was a new dealer trying to get access to their trade route — as if that day could get any more tedious.

So he inquired: "Whose is it? Any references?"

"His name is Fox. And though he didn't specify his last name, I think he might be—"

Wolf interrupted her: "Where!?" His voice betraying more volume than he had control over. Fox? That Fox? Could it be?

Miyu made a pause before answering. "Here in the library. Is that a yes or...?"

Ending the call without responding, Wolf stood and hurried to dress himself to walk around the station. Boots, jacket, pants — a quick mental checklist he always did before going out. Each step felt too slow, too late. As soon as he locked the door to his apartment behind him, he sprinted away.

His mind raced. In his body was the urgency to be there, but in his mind there was no emergency. Sure, it probably was Fox McCloud — who else would it be after Krystal's stunt? — but why was it so imperative that Wolf be there at that very moment?

If Fox had found the Haven as fast as he did, it meant that Krystal had been followed, and the station might be compromised. His fear of Sargasso's history repeating itself in his new base was not unfounded. It was perfectly reasonable to want to foresee the situation personally rather than simply delegating the background check to Miyu or some other techie as he usually did.

But no wars were looming in the Lylat System. There was no reason for Star Fox to show up on his doorstep. There was no real reason for them to fight each other. Was that fear even real to him anymore?

Or maybe it was a diplomacy issue. A necessity of showing himself as the host of his own base to a respected guest. A show of power as a warning to Star Fox so they would behave themselves properly.

But what was it really that he wanted to do with Fox? In the end, what words did Wolf want to use when met with Fox after so long? He avoided pondering too much about it as no immediate answer came to mind.

And so by the time he was on the streets of the communal floor, he was sprinting at full speed. The strenuous physical activity helped him avoid thinking too much of things he had no answer for. He skittered to a stop in front of Miyu's library and took his time to take many deep breaths so as to calm himself.

Inside, through the glass doors, Fox could be seen sitting at a table with his back to the door. His snout resting in his hand, throwing impatient glances to his surroundings.

Instead of walking in, Wolf stood his ground, staring at the back of Fox's head. Frozen in place, unable to form the words stuck in his throat, Wolf dared not move any further.

And then Fox stood, shifting his stance as if unsure of where to go. He would soon turn and notice Wolf.

Panicking at the action, Wolf opened the glass doors and let the sound of the movement announce his presence.

"What are you doing here, pup?" he said, desperately trying to predict what would come of that encounter. His heart raced with adrenaline with every daydream of things going south.

Fox turned and looked at him with sparkling green eyes that went from indifferent surprise to a warm welcome. The emotion spread to his lips in a pleasant smile. "Long time no see, Wolf."

Wolf's vocabulary evaporated from his own brain, as Fox approached and placed a warm hand on his shoulder. He smelled soft, rich, and refreshing, like a cold morning in the woods.

Fox continued: "I'm really glad to see you're OK after losing you from sight in the Aparoid homeworld."

Wolf faltered, but managed to mumble a response: "We just survived. It's what we do."

Fox smiled. Was he really glad that Wolf was alive and well?

Wolf rolled his eyes. So naive. So trusting. Was it braveness or recklessness that made Fox act so? Was it confidence or ignorance that led him to behave so friendly towards Wolf? Weaponless and alone, without a working comm to request backup, yet at the sight of Wolf his gaze had shifted from worry to contentment.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad you're safe." Fox's eyes glimmered with genuine sentiment and a smirk formed on his lips. "And it's... interesting... to see you in a different context. Y'know, not shooting me on sight. Weird. But not terrible."

It occurred to Wolf he had never seen Fox this up close. They had always spoken to each other from inside their respective ships — either behind a screen or a window. Had they ever truly met in person?

There was that one time...

"Wolf?"

Wolf blinked. Fox had spoken while he was lost in thought and he missed the question. "Hm?"

Fox tilted his head and his piercing stare fixated on Wolf's one good eye. "I said: how did you find me?"

It took a moment to remember. It had been not fifteen minutes ago, but it felt like it had been weeks. "Miyu asked me—"

"I asked him," interrupted Miyu. Her boots clacked loudly against the silence of the library as she made her way towards the two of them. She gave them a grin and a wink before continuing: "I asked Wolf if it was OK to mod your comm, Fox." Turning to Wolf, she continued: "And you have yet to answer me, boss."

Fox's brows met and his head turned. "'Boss'?"

Wolf inhaled a sharp breath. "I came here in person," he explained as he decided on what part of the truth was safe to speak, "Because last time Fox showed up unannounced in my territory he blew up half the place."

Ah yes, the Sargasso Space Station. It was hard to forget the day Star Fox decided to ruin his base of operations because of a simple case of miscommunication.

"Sorry about that," whispered Fox with an apologetic grimace. "Your men did shoot first, though."

Wolf decided against his own pride to let Fox have the last word on that front. Furthermore, the thought of Krystal being brought to his room in the middle of the night prevented him from arguing further on the topic. His crew was indeed often a bit too eager to please him when it came to antagonizing Star Fox.

"I assume," said Wolf, "That lacking a way to communicate with his team could unnecessarily escalate into a conflict. However," it would be reckless to so blindly trust Fox. The signal jamming was there for a reason. There was to be no remote contact with the outside of the colony unless absolutely necessary. "I want to know why you're here and if the Cornerian army is about to be on my doorstep. Until then, you can't have your comm modified."

"Oh," said Miyu. "OK, then! Sorry, Fox, you'll have to wait a bit longer until you can talk to your team again."

Wolf huffed. His heart raced faster. Although initially the discourse was an excuse to his physical presence, the seriousness of such consequences were finally registering in his mind. "And, Fox," he warned, this time more confident and firm, "You can't leave until I am sure nothing bad will happen to this place."

Where there once was Fox's friendly smile on his face was a look of surprise and anger. "I can't let my team alone without any contact! They'll think I'm dead!"

"You will be able to contact them freely once I know I can trust your reasons to visit and my scout returns with an amicable report."

Miyu raised her hand in a mock gesture of asking permission to speak. "Wolf, if I may?"

He rolled his eyes, but nodded a confirmation nonetheless.

She grinned in that way Wolf knew she was up to something. "Fox here was just looking for his friend! Maybe you can help him find them."

Wolf softened his scowl and turned to Fox again. "And who is it you're looking for?"

Fox's stare once more locked into Wolf's own, and the sorrowful determination in his eyes spoke an undecipherable plea as he spoke her name: "Krystal."

Silence was the only sound to be heard in the large space between the Haven and the sea of asteroids around it. There, a lone Arwing floated in a slow and steady flight. And the vixen inside of it stared through the reinforced filtered glass at the distant stars between the debris — searching for a sign of any uninvited vessels.

Krystal rolled her head, stretching her neck. Her arms lunged forward in an arching gesture as she felt her back muscles relax. She smiled at the pride she felt at her recent actions. All this time she had been worrying about the consequences of it all, but only now did she stop to think of her actual choices.

Maybe infiltrating a luxury cruise ship was not the best of ideas, sure. And maybe crawling through vents was probably... not ideal. But rescuing a teenager from an abusive household and delivering her to freedom and refuge — of that at least she felt proud.

Now she was out scouting the surrounding area of the Haven like Wolf had asked of her. An official Star Wolf errand, despite it being the unglamorous task of a patrol. Her kidnapping Fay may have somewhat helped her case in proving her allegiance to Star Wolf, but Krystal had also been tasked with seeing her job through. And that meant making sure she was not followed.

Of course, it was more than obvious that she would be followed after kidnapping someone like Fay in the manner that she did. It was not a matter of 'if', but rather of 'who' her pursuers would be. Krystal hoped Fay's relevance would not provoke a response in a greater magnitude than she could deal with.

She had planned to stay a whole cycle out on patrol if necessary, only going back for provisions. Thus, postponing her welcome party was a necessary and rather minor price to pay, despite Panther's disappointment. She suspected he was the only one looking forward to it.

Parties were never her strength — too many people in one place, too many strong emotions bombarding her senses. She preferred the peace and quiet of space, however lonely it may make her.

Besides, she could not begin to imagine Wolf and Leon attending any parties like the one Panther seemed to be planning. She had seen him carrying an entire box of wine bottles, and by the time she was leaving for her patrol, her apartment smelled like a bakery at sunrise.

Wolf in particular she would imagine to be the type to brood in silence and drink whisky with his own thoughts for company. Of course, though he dressed and acted like that was the case, she could feel a hint of something else in him. A spark. A fire. An intensity of feeling that roared to the surface whenever he mentioned Star Fox.

And by the gods, did he mention Star Fox a lot around her. "I won't coddle you like Fox did," he had taunted her innumerable times. Or: "Fox isn't here to protect you," when she flew in the simulator against him.

As she considered the many emotions she sensed in Wolf during those times, a laser shot betrayed the apparent safety and loneliness of space and zapped above Krystal's Arwing, startling her. She looked at the sensors in the ship's dashboard and noticed she had almost collided with a small asteroid. A mistake that could have proved to be fatal, if not for that shot that had destroyed the piece of debris just in time.

A beep and a small blue light on the ship's dashboard soon followed, and she saw who it was that had just saved her.

"You're welcome," announced a voice from the ship's comm.

"Hello, Falco," she responded.

"Hello my feathery ass!" he cursed, "Do you know how much trouble you're in? How much trouble we're in!?"

"I can imagine, yes." She expanded her senses to scout where he was, and sure enough she could feel a ball of flaming anger and worry inside an Arwing of its own not a hundred metres to her left. Unmistakably Falco. "Are you alone?"

He sighed before he answered: "Slippy is in the Great Fox. And neither him nor I know where exactly Fox is except that he's inside that colony."

Krystal cursed. If Fox was already inside she had just missed him. Wolf would not be happy about this. "Anyone else?"

"No. Fox insisted we didn't tell our client where his daughter was taken, not that that's done us any favours."

Relief washed through Krystal's mind. Despite the messy history of Star Fox and Star Wolf — and her involvement with both groups — it was still better to deal with that than an entire platoon of Corneria's army.

Fox would not be an issue — if he was inside the station he could not possibly contact anyone outside without a modded comm. But Slippy and Falco could call Corneria at any moment and report 'an illegal colony'. She could not have that.

"Can I talk to you and Slippy? Is the Great Fox nearby?"

Falco did not answer. And for a long moment Krystal thought she had accidentally closed off her Arwing's comm system. A double check and a quick mental probe told her Falco was just hesitating to give an answer.

Finally, he succumbed: "I'll take you there. Follow me."

As the orange lights slowly faded into a lilac penumbra simulating the continuous natural passage of time, Fox sighed a breath of sorrow and defeat. Outside the library, where he excused himself to breathe fresh air, he was rudely reminded by the tall metal walls around him how the air outside the library was likely not any different than the air inside of it.

Fox walked aimlessly until he arrived at the end of the street. From there, he could see the layout of the city with more clarity. Its centre was in a lower floor than where he currently was, with stairs and lifts for access in two visible places to each side — and perhaps more beyond his view.

There, at the top of a 20 metre fall protected by a guardrail, he sat on the ground and let his mind run blank. If he just made himself not think and not feel, he would soon go back to his old self. He would be again surrounded by his team — by his friends — and go on exciting adventures together. It would be natural as it always had been. It would not be forced and awkward any more. And he would not feel so alone.

"Do you think things happen for a reason?"

Fox blinked. "I don't know."

Krystal smiled. "For instance, was there a grander reason you found me? For me to be saved by you? For me to be imprisoned in the first place? Do you think the universe wanted us to be together?"

"If that's true, then it was a roundabout way of doing things, don't you think?"

Krystal shuffled on the sofa next to him. She had been visiting Fox's apartment regularly for two months now. The two of them plus Slippy and Falco had been enjoying some down time between missions in Corneria, where they hung out late into the night, drank, and played games together. It was a prized moment for Fox.

That night, however, Slippy and Falco had left early and let Krystal and Fox to their own privacy.

"That may be, but maybe the hardships were to make us stronger." She paused and considered her words again. "To make me stronger. At the very least, I would like to believe that."

"That's kind of a bittersweet thought, isn't it?"

A smile formed on her muzzle, and Fox returned it with one of his own. Her eyes shifted downwards, and her face leaned in closer.

And Fox froze in place.

Noticing his hesitation, she asked: "Are you OK?" But he knew — he knew she had already figured it out. He could see the hurt in her eyes.

"Maybe I'm just nervous?" he suggested, though he knew it was not true.

Squeezing his hand, Krystal smiled again. But the timidness of the gesture was not lost to Fox. "Can I kiss you?"

"Y-yes," he stammered in response. He was supposed to kiss her. That was what dating meant. He was the one who had asked her. He was supposed to see it through — to show interest!

As she leaned in a second attempt, alarms rang inside Fox's head. Before he knew what he was doing he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"I can't."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

And as if by accident, Fox pondered if he really liked Krystal that way. Beautiful, kind, and brave Krystal. He would be an idiot not to like her that way. And yet, the idea of kissing her felt like...

Krystal's eyes widened. And before Fox could ask her what was wrong, she was grabbing her things and standing up. "I need to go."

It felt like a mistake.

And though Fox knew it was too late to take it back, he tried anyway: "Wait, Krystal, I didn't mean—"

"Yes, you did. You know very well I can feel your intentions."

Please, Krystal, don't leave me. Not you too.

"Goodbye, Fox."

I shouldn't have dragged her down with me. The problem had always been me. I'm the one that's broken.

"Krystal, wait! I'm sorry! Please!"

I deserve her leaving me. I'm broken.

Broken.

The word made his skin crawl and his fur stand on end. His head sank into his arms as he leaned onto the guardrail. His thoughts filled with a buzz of numbness as his body succumbed to its own weight. The metal was hard and cold and the floor was dusty. But standing up was too much of a hassle.

"Fox."

Wolf had followed him outside after a few moments. Fox did not turn to look at him, but he could feel Wolf's one good purple eye on his neck — watching him.

"She hates me so much," admitted Fox, unsure of why he was telling Wolf about it, "She's never coming back, is she? I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"What, you think she joined Star Wolf to go for your head?" asked Wolf — his voice incredulous, but cautious. He huffed a humourless chuckle. "If I'd known that I'd have accepted her sooner."

Fox smiled. "Heh, you wish."

The quip fell flat as Fox's small smirk faded as quickly as it had appeared. The ensuing silence lasted only a beat longer before breaking: "I should have accepted her a long time ago, actually," confessed Wolf.

Fox blinked. Wolf was acting... weird. Fox would never expect repentance from him. Wolf was a ruthless criminal — an incredibly dangerous and wanted one at that. Was it OK for him to admit an error?

A rustle of movement later, Fox looked up to his left to see Wolf leaning against the guardrail next to him. He did not look back at Fox, and instead kept his gaze on the darkening city in front of them.

"Why didn't you?" Fox asked unable to contain his curiosity.

"You." Wolf answered all too quickly.

Fox scowled. "What about me?"

Wolf sighed. "You know. You two were together and shit."

"You thought she was spying for us?"

"I was... annoyed with her. Krystal is a great asset for Star Wolf. She can fight, she can pilot, and she isn't insufferable."

"These are not negative points."

"Exactly!" Wolf grunted. "She is too good. Something wasn't right. You had to be up to something. Soon enough Cornerian ships would come here and destroy this place."

"You did hear from her she just sabotaged our mission, didn't you?"

Wolf took a deep breath before answering. "Yeah. Then I accepted her into my team officially and on the same day you show up here."

"I wouldn't—"

"Wouldn't you?" growled Wolf, anger clear in his voice. "Last time I checked you were still taking missions almost exclusively from the Cornerian army."

The answer felt like a punch. "Well, what do you want then, Wolf?" Fox felt the anger rise in himself as well. "You take Krystal for your team and then come here to personally rub it in my face. Now I can't talk to my team and I can't get off this place, either. All because you're too scared I would tattle on you."

"Well then, Mr. Good Intentions. Show me proof that isn't the case."

Fox grunted in frustration. "I didn't report Krystal yet because I wanted to talk to her and convince her to return the girl she kidnapped. Since Krystal is on your team now, why don't you ask her if I'm lying. It's her specialty."

Wolf huffed a noise of disbelief. "What, she's secretly a specialized torturer?"

Turning to look at Wolf directly, Fox made a show of raising an eyebrow. "You... you do know she can know things, right?"

Rolling his eye, Wolf grunted. "What the actual fuck are you talking about, pup?"

"Well," contemplated Fox, uncertain if he should reveal Krystal's powers to Wolf. "I think she should be the one to tell you. It's her secret after all."

"You're—," Wolf stuttered, "You're just being ominous so I'll fire her and she can go cry into your arms or something."

Fox looked down and chuckled to mask the pain of the enormous hole that opened in his chest from hearing that. "I don't think she's taking me back. Ever."

Why was he telling Wolf all of this? It was not like Wolf really cared about his feelings regarding Krystal. He felt silly. Had he been delusional in indulging the feeling that Wolf might not completely hate him?

Wolf crouched and grabbed Fox's shoulder. His intense glare pulled Fox's gaze and locked it in place. "What makes you so sure about it?" Fox thought he had noticed a bit of desperation in his voice, but dismissed the idea promptly. Wolf could not possibly want Krystal himself, could he?

It would explain why he had come all this way to see Fox in person. It would explain his distrust of Krystal and his questioning of her loyalty. It would even explain why, despite seemingly disliking her, he had recruited her into Star Wolf.

He fancied her.

It was not unreasonable, was it? The companionship of fighting a war together and saving each others' lives, it had to have meant something for Wolf. Maybe they even bonded over their hatred of Fox.

Of course. He should have seen it coming. The pattern of loss that repeated over and over through the course of his life. His parents' deaths. Then Peppy, as he finally retired to take over the role of the General of the Cornerian Defence Force. And soon followed Krystal, who left him and made it her job to ruin his current gig.

And now Wolf, with whom he thought he had started to forge something other than hatred and rivalry. Now Fox knew Wolf could not care less about him. He was simply interested in making sure Fox was not in his way. Foolish he was to even consider the possibility of their past conflicts being forgotten.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing!? Fox?"

The painful hole in his chest grew larger. And with each shaky breath Fox took, it became larger still. It would soon consume him whole. There was no escaping his fate. His horribly dull and empty fate of forever being lost and unloved.

His hands held onto the guardrail he had now climbed over. Its rough texture hurt his calloused fingers in order to hold his weight. He dared not look down.

What a simple choice, was it not? To live and wait for his inevitable and lonely demise. Or...

"This isn't funny, you asshole!" shouted Wolf. His bared teeth a sight that would provoke fear and submission in any foe. His growl strong and serious. "Get your ass away from that edge!"

...Or just spare himself of it all. No more loss. No more abandonment. No more being left behind. Plus, no one would miss him. Not really.

Fox forced a smile at Wolf and let go of the guardrail.

The flight to the Great Fox had been silent, though Krystal could feel the turmoil of nerves coming from Falco's Arwing. They landed in the hangar without difficulty. The ease and familiarity of the motion reminded her of the fondness of coming back to a safe place after a perilous mission. But that place was not her home any more, and the nostalgia was bittersweet.

"Krystal!" shouted the sweet voice of Slippy as he entered the hangar with a warm smile. He was very glad to see her, she could tell — a nice surprise for her — though it made what she wanted to tell them all that much harder to do.

Having climbed down from her stolen Arwing, she addressed him: "Hello, Slippy." The softness of her voice returning his affection in kind. "I'm glad to see you're doing well."

"Enough with pleasantries, Krystal," snapped Falco as he closed the distance between their Arwings. "Where's the kid?"

Right to the point. "What kid?" she feigned.

Falco had clearly had enough. "You know what damn kid — the one you kidnapped right from under Fox's nose, you delinquent!"

Krystal rolled her eyes. "I can't kidnap someone who asked me to take them away." They deserved that much of the truth, she figured. Maybe they would back down if they knew what was really going on with Fay. They might even help her.

However, she worried she might have some trouble convincing Wolf to accept Star Fox into his territory without inciting a fight. Having them leave did seem like a better option in any case.

"Falco, stop being a jerk. She's still our friend," complained Slippy. And turning to Krystal, he added: "Please, just tell us what really happened."

"A friend wouldn't pull that shit on Fox," spat Falco.

"All right, stop." Krystal had enough of playing that game. It was time to come clean. "I'll tell you what happened."

Slippy smiled again and gave Falco a look. The bird rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "This better be good," he warned her.

Ignoring the comment, Krystal continued: "The girl Fox was guarding — her name is Fay Spaniel. Daughter of Oberon Spaniel, the CEO of Space Dynamics and close friend to the Cornerian military, for obvious reasons."

"Yes, we know who she is," interrupted Falco, "Spaniel hired us himself."

"Of course," added Krystal, "But did you know he was confining Miss Fay to her room without external contact? Do you know why he was doing so? Do you know why he asked for the very expensive and elite services of Star Fox?"

Falco grumbled a quiet 'no', and Krystal kept her smugness to herself.

"She's a tech genius, that girl. Miss Fay is one of the top engineers of Space Dynamics, and her latest work was a fighter ship that far surpasses the specs of the latest Arwing models.

"But she's just a teenager. Barely eighteen. And she has been wanting to do other things than working for her father. Have a life — her own life. When he found out about her escapades, Spaniel locked her up. She could not go anywhere without a bodyguard watching her, reporting her every action to him.

"So when I found her, she begged me to take her away. And when I asked where, she knew about this colony. She called it by name: the Haven.

"So, here I am," concluded Krystal, "Asking the two of you — and Fox if he was here — to just go away. Pick another mission. The money is not worth the freedom of an innocent teenager."

"It was a lot of money, Krystal," explained Slippy. "That Spaniel guy is loaded. We wouldn't have taken this mission otherwise."

"Oh." She made a point of showing disappointment in her tone. "I guess I expected more from you guys."

"Stop with the manipulative bullshit, Krystal," spat Falco, "He told us there had been multiple kidnapping attempts on her. We just never expected one of them to be you."

"Well, he lied."

"And Fay didn't lie to you? She's a teenager, she could just be lying to gain your trust and—"

"Falco, you know that's impossible," reminded Slippy. "Krystal would be able to tell right away."

It took all Krystal's self-restraint to not let the end of her lips curl in a smile. Falco's following grunt — she could tell — was one of embarrassment rather than simple frustration.

"Whatever," he grumbled.

Krystal let herself smile, but this time in sympathy rather than smugness. "So will you let Fay go? I'll make sure she's safe."

Slippy hummed. "If it were up to me, I'd say we abort the mission. But we need to talk to Fox first. And we need to find a way to resign tactfully, too. We don't want Mr. Spaniel as our enemy."

Krystal sighed. Fox was the last person she wanted to see, though she knew it was inevitable at that point. "I'll go back to the Haven and talk to him," she promised. "But first I need to tell you guys something so you'll stop asking me to come back to Star Fox."

"What," Falco grunted, wary of the answer, "What did you do?"

There it was — the hard part. Taking a deep breath, Krystal prepared herself for the onslaught of emotions that would flow from the two of them. Then, she told them:

"I am, officially, a member of Star Wolf now."

A/N: It has taken me a considerably amount of time to finish this, much due to procrastination but also due to constant rewriting. This is Fox and Wolf's first contact in this fic! It had to be special! Impactful!

Dedicated to Rec, who is always there for me ❤️

Also if you are worried, here's a SPOILER: Fox is fine.