Mira let out a small groan, able to hear and feel someone moving around her, but still having no desire to get up. She was utterly exhausted after all. She shifted where she was, trying to scrunch herself up even more under the soft blanket she was under, which wasn't a possible task. Her stomach grumbled at her, Mira only just realizing just how hungry she felt. She let out a louder and longer groan, forcing herself to sit up without bothering to slide the blanket off herself. She wrenched her eyes open and wearily looked about the room she was in, finding herself to be on Will's couch.

"Wow, she's finally awake!" Will's voice rang out behind her, cracking slightly. She merely canted her ears back as her mind finally started to start turning again, memories of the last few days slipping into her mind.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Fifteen hours. Had to stay up all night." She heard a loud series of cracks and clacks behind her, finally glancing at him as he finished assembling an old school kinetic rifle he inherited from his father, seeing him load a magazine in the weapon and yank the charging handle running along the barrel back. The weapon let out one last loud clack as he released the handle, loading a round.

"Oh…. Sorry." She looked away from him, not really wanting to speak right now, as the fear that had been overwhelming her the past few days was slowly taking her mind over once more.

"I've stayed awake for over forty eight hours in near constant fire fights before Mira. An all-nighter is nothing to that. What happened to you?" there was certain small trace of mirth in his voice.

"I…. I saw Midnight."

She heard him moving, stepping around to the front of the sofa with the rifle slung on his shoulder. "What?" his face had gone pale, his eyes flicking between hers.

"He snuck up on me while I was out for a jog. Spoke to me. I… panicked and ran. Then I tried to call you and I heard the blaster shot! I-" she buried her face in her hands unable to stop the torrent of tears that had suddenly sprung forth.

"Hey! It's alright, he can't hurt you right now! Just calm down! Panicking isn't going to solve anything!" she felt his hands gently grab her shoulders, the weapon still slung on his side slamming into the side of the couch with a loud thunk.

"I know! I'm sorry! After I heard the blaster shot, and the line going dead, I thought you were dead! I didn't know what to do!" she couldn't stop her tears as she managed to uncover her face, staring into Will's eyes as though her life depended on them.

"We can go to the precinct later and see if they will put out an A-P-B on him. Okay? Right now, you need to call your boyfriend. He was freaking out pretty badly when I saw him yesterday." Will spoke very calmly, his face still a little pale.

"Oh… yeah… I didn't want to get him involved though… he's a good person and I don't want him getting hurt. He's not a soldier, like us."

"Well, that's fair, but let him know you're alright. Even if you don't tell him what's going on. That said… it would still be better if you explained it to him. You don't want him to think you're cheating on him with your ex after all." He winked at her before standing and moving off into the kitchen, Mira able to see him grabbing ingredients from various places as he began to prepare some sort of meal.

She let out a small sigh, searching her pockets for her phone for a moment before she spotted it on Will's entertainment center, plugged in and charging. She smiled at Will's forward thinking before slipping off the couch to grab it. All of her muscles were sore and aching, feeling like she had just spent the last six hours doing a full body work out, making even that short distance hard to cross. She groaned as she dropped onto the couch, seeing the dozens of missed calls from Blake as she opened her phone.

I really should have talked to him sooner… I'm so sorry Blake… She highlighted his contact and tapped the call button, waiting for several moments as the device rang.

"Mira!? What the hell is going on!? You've been ignoring my calls for days, you locked yourself in your room, and you only came out when your fucking ex showed up?" his near shouted answer startled her, but though his words were loud, there was a subtle difference to his tone that showed just how panicked he was.

I can't blame him for reacting like this… she let out a deep sigh, trying to compile the mess of thoughts in her mind into something comprehensible.

"Mira?" his voice was much quieter this time, audibly scared.

"Yeah, I'm here just… I…" her voice froze in her throat, nearly breaking down crying just thinking about having to explain the situation to him. Meanwhile, she could smell eggs and bacon being cooked from the kitchen, glancing Will's way for a moment.

"Mira, what's going on? You are scaring the ever living shit out of me!"

"I ran into someone… someone who nearly killed me about a year ago…" she let out a sigh, continuing before Blake could respond. "Actually, if you want to get technical… he did kill me. I was clinically dead for nearly thirty minutes…"

"What!?" his one shocked word seemed to echo in her mind several times, forcing a small sigh out of Mira.

"Yeah… it's a long story, and I promise, I'll talk to you about… I just… I'm terrified right now. I don't want you to get involved. If he is here to come after me, he would kill you without a moment's thought. I'm going to be at Will's place for a few days…" she winced as her mind realized how what she said could easily sound like.

His wife literally cheated on him with an ex, stole his money, nearly bankrupted his business, and damn near took his son away… and I just told him I'm staying at my ex's place for a few days… fuck.

She could hear him gulp several times over the phone, her only wishing she could be with him now just to know what he was thinking, any clue as to where his mind was. "Are you safe right now?"

"Safer. Will's…. a bit of a gun nut and former soldier. So yeah. A little safer. But not safe."

"You need to go to the cops about this."

Mira glanced at Will in the kitchen, sighing slightly. "Will is a cop Blake."

"Has he said anything to his supervisors yet?"

"No. I only just told him what was going on too. I ended up passed out on his couch. Spending three days awake and not eating will do that to you." She tried to laugh a little at her own stupidity, as now she was looking back, it had been utterly stupid to do that. She would have never been able to fight someone off in the state she was in.

"How can you be laughing about this! Your life could be in danger!"

"I'm sorry… I… was just laughing at my own stupidity. I'm going to get some food in me and then we are going to go to the station. I promise, I'll stay in touch, okay?"

He audibly sighed over the phone, Mira's heart wrenching in her chest from the sound of it. "Okay. Call me when you get done at the station. I want to know what they say."

"I will. Well, I gotta go…"

"Yeah. Bye" the line cut off before she could reply to him, a sigh slipping out of her.

Damn it, I really handled that badly. She closed her eye's and dropped the phone on the couch, letting her head drop into her hands. The smell of food suddenly overwhelmed her senses, forcing her to open her eyes to a plate just inches from her muzzle.

"That sounded hard for you."

"It was." She responded to Will as she accepted the plate, slipping a piece of bacon into her mouth and nearly swallowing it whole. Her stomach was left grumbling for more, but she found herself unwilling to even try and eat any more, simply staring down at the plate in her lap.

"Will… you're not angry at me are you? For dating someone else?"

"Why would I be? If anything, I'm happy for you. People don't freak out like that if they don't care about you." He spoke quickly and curtly, never actually looking at her from where he was sitting beside her.

"I… you were…" she let out another small sigh as her voice cut out on her. "I hurt you really badly Will. I know I did. How could you not be angry with me?" she whispered that toward the plate in her lap, feeling a few tears leak from her eyes that she made no attempt to stop.

"Well, I'm not. So eat up, get showered, then we'll head up to the precinct. Only have the bike still though so you gotta ride bitch." He stood as he spoke, his tone never changing or varying.

Mira shook her head, not looking his way anymore as she finished her food, not tasting any of it.

Fox let out a small sigh as he sunk into the couch cushions, the glorious smells of a slow roast filling the home, as well as baking bread. The TV was on before him, set to the news, as it usually was. Fox, and inadvertently, Krystal, never had much interest in the shows that would be played on the various networks, honestly having far more interest in what was actually going on in the world than the worlds of fantasy and drama that TV shows always portrayed.

"Well Tom, what do you have to say on the rising food prices?"

"Well, as much as I hate to admit it, they are going to continue to rise. Corneria is under a huge strain right now. With the damage to both Katina and Fortuna's infrastructure and population centers, we are currently supporting virtually all three of the worlds. The colonies on Fichina and Macbeth are already nearly entirely dependent on outside food stores, which isn't helping those food prices any. I've also been hearing reports of human refugees arriving in system from Sol, which, if factual, would mean an even greater strain on Corneria and her allies." Fox smirked as he recognized the talk show host speaking, the man having been given his job back after the end of the Division war.

"Human refugees!? Why would we be accepting any of them! Humans are the reason we are in this mess in the first place!" one of the other speakers who was routinely on the show nearly shouted that back at Tom.

"Well, yes, you are right, but something you have to remember and consider is that not all humans were a part of the forces causing the majority of that damage. Humanity is in the middle of an active conflict because of the war crimes committed as we speak. Something that can be hard for us to understand, being under a single system wide government, is that the United Earth Coalition is not a governing body. It's a rough alliance of the various governing bodies within the human home system formed after their first contact with us. The forces spearheading the war against Corneria were almost entirely part of one of the larger nations. Most of the civic damage was actually caused by the follow on forces, primarily from a different nation. That second nation is currently locked in a civil war, with the UEC backing one of the two factions." Several graphics of the human political map of the human home world were being shown on the screen as he spoke.

"Due to the immense and virtually undamaged combat power of the government faction of that nation, it is likely a conflict that will rage on for years to come. I expect we will be seeing large volumes of human refugees, as this conflict is spanning almost all of human space. It even has embers here, in the Lylat system, where sections of Katina are still under human control. The UEC has officially ceased all hostilities and returned any and all lands held by their forces to Corneria, so these forces are not UEC forces. There are UEC and Cornerian Defense Forces actively working together here, in the Lylat system, to shove these hostile humans from the system." Fox had always seen and known Tom to be a levelheaded and well informed member of the media, and one of the few media members he had always respected. He always told the situation as close to as it was as his information could get it.

"I still think we should not be supporting human refugees, regardless of what 'nation' they are from. If not on moral reasons due to the recent conflict, but economic. There are already reports of families that used to be able to live comfortably going with out food, from lack of cost and accessibility."

"Well, that is a fair point, but can we really turn away those in need? We, as Corneria, may have seen the end of this conflict, but humans have not. And humans are still people. It is still of my opinion that we should always help those we can. But that's just my thoughts on the matter, I'll leave whether we can actually sustain human refugees to our economic expert, George?" Tom smoothly transitioned the conversation away from himself, the screen changing to show a different figure. Fox didn't get to pay much attention to him though.

"The food smells amazing!" he nearly leapt out of his seat as the 'thought' words appeared in his mind, not actually seeming like words at all. The thought appeared in his mind as his current house guest sunk into the opposite side of his sofa, letting out a long and pained sigh as she settled in.

"Thanks, Granny." He tried to be as friendly as he could with her, knowing she was from Krystal's past. It was sometimes a little hard for him though, finding it awkward that she didn't really have a spoken name, or did she ever really speak.

"Your welcome. It's nothing to what I would cook on Cerinia but, it certainly does the job!" she let out an amused chuckle, Fox nervously joining her.

Jeez, being around her actually feels like being with your girlfriend's family! He immediately regretted that thought as the woman's laugh intensified.

"Careful there, Orange, you might fowl up and let Krystal hear you refer to her as merely your girlfriend!"

"Hey, I'm still not used to the whole marriage thing, okay!?"

"Oh, I am well aware! I'm very glad she found a man such as yourself though."

Fox groaned, able to feel his fur beginning to stand on end from embarrassment.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you… what's this friend you and Krystal seem to be having issues with?" she was staring intently at him, something that was more than a little unsettling given her nearly blind eyes.

"Who are you talking about? We aren't having issues with any of our friends."

"Sorry… I misspoke…" with her thought came a rush of his own thoughts from the past few weeks, all centering around Will.

"Oh… you meant Will. Well Granny, that's a bit of a long story…"

"I have nothing but time child."

He smirked at her thought, doing his best to collect his thoughts. "We're both just worried about him. He went through something none of us can really understand, ended up killing his own friends. Add to that being dumped by his best friend and girlfriend… it's hard not to be."

"I know that much about him yes. I wanted to know more about his captivity. How much do you really know about it?"

"Oh… honestly, not much. Krystal doesn't want to try and pressure it out of him, and he won't talk about it. We know he killed Fara at some point, we know he killed a lot of other people, and we know Andross was trying to brain wash him, though we don't know to what end."

"Hmm. Do you think he would agree to letting me poke around in his mind? What he went through does not seem like something to keep to oneself."

"I've honestly never thought of asking. He has always tended to keep things to himself until he was ready to talk about them. At this point, I'm just trying to be there for him until he's ready." Fox shrugged, slight changes in the smell of the cooking food prompting him to slip off the couch and toward the kitchen.

"I would think this is one of those times it may be better to reach out to him. At the least tell him you are waiting for him to open up to you two. He may not realize it, just by the memories I have seen."

"eh, I think it would more likely annoy him and make him less likely to talk to us." He flipped the slow roasting meat over in the pot he was using, letting the moist side have some time out in the air to crisp as the crisp side regained some moisture by being submerged in the seasoned broth, taking a glance at the bread in the oven as well.

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. I know my people are a poor example, as we tend to be far more ingrained into each other's mental states, but I feel a good rule of thumb to be if you are concerned for someone, say it. Even amongst a race of telepaths, if you don't make your concern known, people seldom notice it."

"I guess we could try. Next time I'll see him, I'll try to bring it up. He does have a lot on his plate right now, with Mira's whole freak out. And the new job."

"That's fair. Just promise me you will."

"Alright Granny, I promise."

Bradley let out a pained groan as he smashed his forehead into the desk, his ears flopping on the desk.

"You're the one who said you'd help me with all these arrest files Brad!" the yellow avian in the cubical beside his chuckled that out, Bradley wanting nothing more than to strangle her at this time.

"You didn't tell me you had over a dozen arrests over the past week!"

"Week? These are from yesterday alone!"

Bradley groaned, sitting up and taking another long swig of his coffee. At least I get to be comfortable doing this… He was, after all, still technically on admin leave, so he was in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, instead of any kind of official uniform.

Casey and himself had graduated the academy together, and until recently, had been partners their entire police career. So when Casey had been texting him about being swamped in paperwork, he jumped up to help her in an instant.

"So, things still rocky with your boyfriend?" he haphazardly threw that out, more to make small talk than anything. Though, it was a valid question, as the increased workloads the entire department had was straining everyone's personal relationships. It was one of the few reasons Bradley was glad his family was retired on Aquas, sipping on martinis, and he was single. It meant he could devote nearly all of his time to work and not affect him in the slightest.

"Yeah… I had to cancel another date with him last night."

"Ouch. That's the second time this week isn't it?"

"Yeah… I think he's trying to be understanding, but… we got into a huge fight over it last night. I wouldn't be surprised if I find my stuff on the curb tonight."

"That bad huh?"

"Yeah… Garret ended up showing up bad."

"Ouch. Been awhile since the cops were called on you two."

"Least we had our clothes on this time."

Bradley grimaced, that particular memory being hot in his mind. Namely, as their neighbors had called the cops on them for overhearing 'intense screaming' in the apartment next door. Bradley happened to be the closest officer on shift and had taken the call, only to arrive to a cracked open door and two birds very enthusiastically enjoying themselves. He still couldn't look at his co-worker quite the same. "Let's hope not this time. You hear about Caldwell?"

"Yeah… wife is divorcing him. Nasty business." The pair shared a knowing sigh, both well aware how stressed their co-workers were.

"Hawkins!? What the hell are you doing here!? And who the hell is this Sheila!?" The sound of the Lieutenant's screamed voice drew Bradley's attention immediately toward the LT's office, perking his head up over the cubicle walls.

The human being shouted at was standing at attention, despite being in civilian clothes, a brown furred woman he didn't recognize beside him. Both had blasters on their thighs, which, if his guess was correct, one of them shouldn't have.

"Be right back. I'm going to go see what our resident human is doing here."

"Are you sure that's wise? LT might turn those shouts on you!" he waved off his old partner's concern as he slid from the chair, swiping his to go cup of coffee and making his way toward the human.

"-spectively request to speak with you privately sir!" Bradley rolled his eyes at Hawkins formal tone, sipping on his coffee as he finished meandering over.

"Fine. I want an officer sitting in on this though!" the Lt's attention slid away from Hawkins as he spoke, immediately spotting Bradley. "BRAAAADLEEEEY!?" he could see the seething anger under his LT's eyes, gulping.

"Uhhh just helping Casey with some filing! Ya know, old time's sake and all!" he winced, shifting his hands into a more or less defensive posture.

"Urrrrg fine, get your ass in my office with a pen and notepad, on the double!" he barked that out before waving Hawkins and his companion to follow, disappearing into his office.

Being the cop he was, Bradley already had a pen and notepad in his cargo pocket, pulling them out as he followed Hawkin's companion into the office, the two of them taking the two chairs while he moved over beside the desk, almost like a mediator as he pulled his notepad and pen out.

"Alright Hawkins, the hell is going on, who the hell is this, and why do I have an armed civilian in my police station!?"

Bradley winced as he got ready to write whatever pertinent information could come up. Now that he was in a position that he could really see her, he was shocked to find that his companion was a hybrid, at least part vulpine. Wow, she really looks a lot like that woman the guy took hostage the other day…

"My friend had an encounter with a known criminal, I want to try and put an APB out on them sir."

"And? Why didn't you go through the normal police channels? Coming straight to your lieutenant is not the correct procedure and you know this."

"Well… this isn't a typical criminal and I wanted to make sure something was done about it. He's tried to kill her and several others on other occasions. Succeeded a few times too."

He glared at Hawkins for a moment. "Miss?"

"Um… yeah… that's why we're here…" she shifted around in her seat, visibly nervous.

"And who was this criminal."

"no one knows his actual name. bounty hunter by the name of Midnight." Will, in stark contrast to his friend, held out a PDA to the LT, the human device already displaying a file for the LT.

"I know of him. Was part of a running firefight in district four that cost eight people their lives. What does he have to do with the miss here?"

"He… tried to kill me at one point. Put me in the hospital for several months. And he spoke to me a few days ago with some… thinly veiled threats…" she gulped as she spoke, her ears plastered to her skull as she twitched almost incessantly.

"Miss. Let me be blunt for a moment. I need actual information. Your name, what he said, where it occurred, stop beating around the bush." The LT's sudden brazenness startled Bradley slightly, but the man wasn't exactly wrong.

The woman opened her mouth several times to speak, but couldn't seem to form any words, no matter how hard she tried.

Hawkins beside her was frowning, most of his features slackening as he watched until he put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Her name is Mira Marshall. We were wingmates on the Star Fox team. That's why Midnight was after us in the first place. She was at a park when he snuck up behind her and made his threats, then left. She's been locked up in her room since." He was speaking just as confidently as he always seemed to, despite his voice being quiet.

"Thank you Hawkins. Miss Marshall. Can you tell me what park you spotted him at and are you absolutely certain it was him?"

"Sergeant Kerman memorial park. And yes. I'm positive. As I said, he spoke to me…"

The Lieutenant let out a small sigh, rubbing a hand over the top of his head. "Alright. I'll see what I can do. Hawkins, what's your assessment of the danger?"

"I wouldn't say that I'm the best person to ask. I've been in firefights with this man in the past, and the person involved is a dear friend and was my wingmate. My perspective is beyond skewed, that said… I do feel this is a very credible threat. And given certain classified knowledge I can not divulge at this time… I don't think he is operating alone. If he is, it is perfectly possibly that he isn't under a contract, but he is wanted across Corneria, so I have a strong suspicion he is on someone's payroll. Which means he is here for a reason that probably needs to be stopped." He spoke calmly once again, though that seemed to be his norm at this point.

"Alright. I don't think I can justify police protection. Not with how stretched thin the department is. But I will get the other departments aware he's back in town. Dismissed, and get out of here! I told both of you to not come back for a week and yet both of you are back in here just days later! The hell am I going to do with you two!" He stood from his desk as he started shouting again, Bradley and Hawkins both shrinking away like scolded children. Hawkins friend was visibly fighting giggling. "Now get out of my office!"

Hawkins and Bradley both saluted before the trio left the office, Bradley following behind them.

"Wow Will. You've been at work what, three weeks and your boss is already yelling at you? You're hopeless!" she let out a small sweet giggle, gently punching his arm.

"Oh shut up Mira."

"Nope, never!" stuck her tongue out at Hawkins. Despite her playful actions, he could still see her quaking slightly.

"Well, not to interrupt but Hawkins? I found ya something the other day, come here!" Bradley stuck his muzzle between them for a moment, bouncing his eyes between them. As soon as he was finished speaking, he stopped to get himself out from between them, just before heading back toward his desk. Casey was oddly silent as he approached, fully expecting her to say something. He gave her a puzzled look before turning to the desk to find a blue rubber training knife sitting on top of the paperwork he had been helping her with.

"Oh god damnit people! Will you cut it out with the stupid knife! That was a freaking year ago!" he grabbed rubber training aid, as many of the officers around him burst out laughing, chucking it off into one of the corners of the room.

"Uhm, a rubber knife?" Mira spoke up behind him, eliciting a small groan from Bradley.

"Oh, Officer Forgetful here was bringing in a perp a while back and removed his blaster but didn't notice the perp had a combat knife on him. The perp literally had to remind him about it!" Casey cracked up laughing after she managed to give that rudimentary explanation.

Mira immediately burst out laughing, even Hawkins beginning to chuckle. "Seriously?! Please tell me that was really you!" Mira seemed barely able to get that out between her laughs.

"Regrettably, yeah, I did that."

"Wow, I thought you looked familiar when I first met you." For the first time since he had met Hawkins, the man was visibly fighting laughter himself, a massive grin on his face.

"Wait, what do you mean fami-" his voice dropped out on him as he thought back to that particular arrest, doing another once over of his new partner. His hair was longer, and he had scars on his face now, but, now that he was actually thinking about the incident, he realized that the human in front of him was the same human he had arrested… and had to tell him about the combat knife on his side. "Oh god damn it, what the hell are the freaking odds of that, for fucks sake!" Bradley smashed his hand against his face, trying his best to repress that particular memory.

"What are you cursing now Brad?"

"Casey… Hawkins here is the perp that reminded me he had a knife…" Bradley barely managed to get that out of his muzzle, cringing as he waited for his friend to respond.

"Oh. My. God! You're joking!" her beak fell open in shock, glancing between Hawkins and Bradley.

"'Fraid so. I got arrested during the war for calling my dad back in the sol system." Hawkins responded for him, Bradley just doing his best to not pass out from embarrassment.

"Hah, what are the odds of that! One moment!" Casey leapt out of her seat and ran off to the corner of the room in which Bradley had tossed the training knife. As soon as she had it, she trotted back and presented it to Hawkins "Here! I believe this rightfully belongs to you!"

"Why thank you kind madam, Mister Bradley, I believe I must remind that I am carrying a sharp pointy item, will you forget it this time!?" Hawkins accepted the rubber toy before holding it out formally to Bradley.

"Fuck. Off. You all are all jackasses!"

Hawkins, for the first time since Bradley met him, burst out laughing, passing the rubber knife to Casey. "Ah man, I am so lording that over you from now on!"

"Well, it's good to see you in good company!" Mira spoke as she bumped her hip into Hawkins, finally having stopped laughing.

"Anyway, here Hawkins. Found this the other day, thought it might help you." He pulled out a flyer from under most of his jumbled paperwork, it being to an electronic repair shop. "They work on human stuff too! Maybe they can fix that phone of yours. Then you don't gotta replace your files."

Hawkins accepted the flyer, looking over it for a moment with a small smile on his face. "Alright, thanks Bradley. Guess I gotta go grab it from my locker. See ya!" he waved goodbye to them before he and his friend left for the elevator.

"You better be getting some sleep when we get back Will." Hawkins friend sounded almost angry in her statement.

"Eh, I told you, an all nighter is nothing."

"I don't care! You are sleeping and that's final!" her voice was nearly inaudible as the left Bradley's earshot, just a moment before they disappeared into the elevator.

"Well, they seemed cute together. Think they're a thing?" Casey spoke as she leaned on the wall between their cubicles.

"No, Hawkins does not have a girlfriend. Or so he said." He grumbled that out as he dropped into his chair.

"They are totally a thing. Which you would totally know, Master Detective Bradley." She artfully bowed to him, a grin on her face.

"Fuck off Casey." He shook his head as he picked up where he left off.