Dun Dun Duuuuuun

Time to see how our favourite little Jackal is doing... not too well it would seem

Review or message me, let me know what you think so far, only way I'll improve :)

Chapter 14

He ached.

To Nick's delight, however, that was all he felt. If not for the fact he was curled up on the bathroom floor, that would probably have been one of the best night's sleep he'd had in a while. His ear twitched slightly, there was silence in the rest of the apartment. Feeling grateful that Judy was obviously not awake yet Nick struggled to sit up. There was a tinkle as he knocked the empty tranquiliser dart lying on the floor next to him.

Feeling extremely grateful that Judy hadn't found him like that Nick hurriedly wrapped the dart in rolls of toilet paper and pushed it deep into the little bin in the corner of the bathroom. Nick staggered up to the sink and turned on the water. He looked up at the mirror a little hesitatingly, not quite wanting to see himself. Bright emerald eyes, full of life, stared back at him like last night had just been some kind of bad dream.

Except, Nick knew as he washed his face, that it certainly wasn't. It hadn't happened many times during the last 17 years, mainly due to how few people Nick had let get close to him. There had been a few times he'd gotten too drunk, and one time he and Finnick got caught up in a hustle that went too deep. But none of that had held a candle to the pain last night.

Well that's obviously because Judy means more to you than the prev-

Shut up right there! Are you trying to get us killed?

Oh calm down, we need to get over this at some point

Get over it?! We… are… Broken! Even now…

Nick growled and shook his head before he splashed himself in the face again. He hissed slightly at the headache he hadn't noticed till he violently moved his head. Patting his trousers down Nick pulled out a little packet of black tablets. Hurriedly filling a glass, he dropped one of the pills in and watched thoughtfully as it dissolved, leaving what looked like a glass of ink.

Nick had used enough of Noct's Suppressors over his life to not have any reservations drinking the black fluid. They were still the best hangover cure, just like he remembered, and before you could count to twenty the headache had completely vanished. Feeling a lot better, and very regretful that he hadn't had any after his reunion with Noct, Nick gave a grin at the fox in the mirror.

It almost looked convincing.

It also vanished as Nick heard a thump and then a loud groan coming from his bedroom. Sniggering slightly to himself Nick poured out another glass of water and popped a second Suppressor out of the packet. The water rapidly turned black as night as Nick wandered back to the bedroom.

Cautiously he pushed open the door to the darkened room. His night vision let him clearly make out a bundle of duvet covers on the floor at the foot of the bed, wiggling gently. Shutting the door behind him so Judy wouldn't get blinded, Nick set the glass down on the bedside table.

Nick slowly unbundled the duvet till it revealed a familiar grey form that twitched slightly at the cool air.

"Come on Judy" said Nick softly as he picked the bunny up off the floor.

Judy whimpered in pain and grabbed hold of Nick tightly. She pulled herself closer to the comforting smell that she instantly recognised as her partner. A bit of her was confused as to why Nick was here but most of her didn't care as having him was helping with the hangover.

Sitting down on the bed Nick reached out for the glass and carefully held it to her lips.

"Drink up" said the fox gently, thanking the heavens that rabbits didn't have night vision and she couldn't make out what she was drinking.

The Suppressors worked their magic and Judy almost immediately stopped the little groans she had been making constantly. She sat up on the bed next to Nick a little bewildered by the sudden change. Nick handed her the glass which was still a third full and went to turn on the light.

Judy was just about to shout out to stop him but the tod was a tad too fast for her and light flooded the bedroom. Judy had scrunched her eyes closed and was waiting for the blinding pain to hit her… but nothing happened. She opened her eyes to see a very amused looking fox stood with his arms crossed.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Judy slowly as she looked down at the glass in her hand, her nose wrinkled at the sight of the pitch-black liquid "and what the hell is this?"

"That, Carrots, is an old family remedy of my brother's, and perhaps the single greatest hangover cure on the face of the planet"

He could tell from her face that Judy wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"Come on, I'll explain on the couch, you must be hungry, right?"

Judy opened her mouth but Nick had already left the bedroom. Grumbling she followed him, she glanced at the glass in her hand dubiously, she didn't drink any more but brought it along in case. She had just gotten settled on the sofa when Nick came back from the kitchen, he had the salad that Judy had never gotten around to eating on Movie Night. Judy suddenly realised that she was starving and Nick raised an eyebrow at the ferocity she attacked the salad with.

"So what happened?" asked Judy mid-mouthful.

"Well Carrots" said Nick leaning back with his hands behind his head "I had just returned from a wonderful evening with Noct and Finnick. I had had a badly frozen ready meal, and was feeling up for maybe watching a movie before bed" Judy glowered at him over her salad "when suddenly there is a knock at the door. Turned out to be one very drunk bunny and Lunette. Apparently, my address was the only one you would give her"

Judy tried to bury herself in her salad as her ears started to flush "How bad was I?" she asked almost dreading the answer.

"You had four and a half Fuzzy Carrots, Carrots, how bad do you think you were?"

Judy stared at Nick in horror, she remembered the night when she'd had three of those delicious cocktails, that was when they both decided she should only have two at any one time. She opened her mouth when something else hit her, she stared down at the glass still partly full of black liquid.

"What the hell is this stuff?" she asked absentmindedly.

"Best hangover cure in existence, like I said, I would advise you ignore the colour and finish it off" said Nick as he watched the bunny cautiously reach for the glass again "I'm assuming that you can't remember anything from last night?"

Judy shook her head as she forced herself to drink the rest of the black liquid, a strange thought wiggled into her mind.

"This seems a little like Déjà vu" said Judy slowly as she put the empty glass down "but did- did I do anything I need to apologise for?"

The fox sat and stared at her silently for a long few moments. There was a very odd look on his face, Judy couldn't quite place it, and his eyes seemed happy and sad at the same time. And then it was gone, like she'd imagined the whole thing, and he had that smirk of his on his face.

"No Judy" said Nick seriously in contrast to his grin "you didn't do anything you need to apologise for, not even shoulder throwing me over the sofa"

This is almost exactly the same as Tuesday morning thought Judy he- he isn't saying it for the same reason I did right? No that's impossible, he couldn't remember that kiss…

Yeah, just like you can't remember anything either

Judy managed to keep her expression calm and relieved as her mind ran in circles.

"Well, since you seem to know more about my evening than I do, how was your evening with Noct?" asked Judy to divert the conversation.

Nick's right ear twitched, barely moved really but it was something that Judy had learnt to notice, a tiny, tiny tell that the fox was unsure. Noticing this Judy put down her plate and practically bounced across the sofa to sit leaning against his side.

Nick froze, he could smell her, just like last night, the heat, the taste. Unconsciously Nick shuffled a little further away. And then it hit him. He saw the expression on Judy's face. She was wearing a mask, a little part of Nick thought she was learning well, but not well enough. He could see the pain when he moved away, the sadness hidden deep in her purple eyes.

It wasn't like last night, this time it felt like a shard of ice was slowly digging deeper into his heart. He never thought he'd say this but he would rather be writhing on the bathroom floor again than see Judy make that face. Nick hurriedly reached out as Judy began to move back and pulled her into his side while avoiding her gaze.

There was silence for a few moments as they both recovered their emotions before Judy looked up at him.

"You have a tell, you know?" she said smirking slightly

"No I don't!" insisted the fox as he narrowed his eyes "what is it?"

"You mean what are they… and I'm not telling"

"Sly Bunny"

"Dumb Fox, now tell me, was everything okay? You didn't fall out with Noct again did you?"

Nick chuckled at this which reassured Judy somewhat.

"No everything was fantastic" said Nick "It's just… well, I found out something that I wasn't expecting"

"Which was?" Judy looked up at him with expectant eyes.

"Ugh, look I'm not sure how to say it without shocking you too much"

"Nick" the fox looked down at the determined expression on Judy's face "Just tell me"

"Alright" said Nick, his smirk growing even wider "Noct is Lunette's mate"

There was silence as Nick waited for the bunny's mind to comprehend what he had just said. A paw shot out and grabbed his tie, with a powerful yank Nick found his head pulled down. Judy's forehead was pressed against his own and her eyes, those enchanting purple eyes, were mere centimetres from him.

"Say that again" said Judy slowly as she stared into his eyes without blinking.

"Noct is Lunette's mate" said Nick just as slowly with a small grin.

"Noct is Lunette's mate?" repeated Judy "How do you know?"

"Two reasons, Finnick managed to get Noct to explain why he came back to Zootopia, 1) he calls his mate Bruma" he could see a glimmer of understanding appearing in Judy's eyes "and 2) he met his mate during a shootout in a supermarket, where they danced down the aisles under a hail of bullets"

"Noct is Lunette's mate" said Judy her eyes shining "Noct is Lunette's mate! She said he was a cat! Noct is Lunette's mate!"

Judy took a deep breath and for some reason her body language unnerved Nick.

Where have I seen a mammal look like that before he pondered quickly ah right, Benjy… wait, Benjy!

The fox hurriedly shoved his fingers into his ears as Judy erupted in a joyful squeal. His eyes had been clenched shut and when he opened them Judy was gone. As he looked round he could make out a small grey blur bouncing all around the room, all while making noise Nick didn't think possible for her small frame to produce. After far too long in Nick's opinion, How big is her lung capacity he thought, Judy calmed down and flopped next to him on the sofa again.

"What are we going to do?" she asked breathlessly "we have to get them together again, why did he leave in the first place?"

"Noct has… a complicated background" Nick said slowly still cautious of the rabbit next to him "which I won't go into without him here. Safe to say that Noct put Lunette in danger just by being with her, and as much as it hurt him, which it did trust me, he left to protect her"

Nick flinched slightly as Judy flung herself at him expecting another ear-splitting scream. Instead she snuggled into his shoulder shaking a little bit. Nick looked down in concern to see her smiling but with tears pouring down her face. She looked up and saw the worry on Nick's face, she didn't want him to see her like this, he'd just tease her, so she pushed his muzzle in the other direction.

Nick let her direct his gaze elsewhere but wrapped his arm round her a bit tighter.

"You bunnies, so emotional" smirked the fox.

"Well I can't help it this time" pouted Judy "I was just so happy to hear that he still loved her"

They sat in silence feeling the warmth of the other until Judy had calmed down enough to stop crying.

"So what do we do?" she asked quietly.

"Oh, don't worry about that Carrots, I've got a plan" Judy looked up to see the same sort of sly grin on his face that he used to wear so often when she had first met him "Somehow, I mean I am pretty amazing, I managed to get through the night without tipping Noct off. So he doesn't know that we know" Nick looked down at Judy and she couldn't help it, a sly smile, similar to the one on her partner, slid onto her face "we are going to hustle him good"

The wind blew past the slightly open window.

Insects chirped and rustled somewhere outside.

The smell of trees drifted in from outside mixed lightly with the scent of smoke and fumes.

Asra was sat in his bed as usual, he wasn't in any fit state to be moving around. In fact he could barely move at all, he just didn't have any strength. Along with this, however, his senses were still running on overdrive. Luckily his room was in a quieter part of the hospital but even then, trapped as he was, the influx of sensation was wearing on him.

Thankfully, since he was so weak, he slept a lot which temporarily protected him from the overwhelming world around him. And he could feel himself getting weaker, he'd lived on the streets long enough to understand what that meant. He had come to terms with it fairly quickly, his life before was nothing worth mentioning, he'd nearly died several times due to criminals or just bad weather.

He had no future, no way of getting out of the terrible situation he was in, unless you fell deeper into Zootopia's underworld. And while you could survive, well, the pup had seen enough mammals fall that way before to know that you couldn't live.

Asra didn't mind not going down that route of life. In fact he had enjoyed the last few days more than the last few years due to two mammals. Mr Wilde, the policeman who had saved him, had visited every day and made the pup feel a closeness Asra had never felt before. He just wished he didn't need to see the hurt on Mr Wilde's face each time he visited and Asra was in a worse condition. The other mammal was Miss Hopps, he hadn't been as close with her as he was with Mr Wilde at first, but she had visited as well when she could. Asra had quickly fallen prey to her infectious personality and positive outlook.

Asra shivered slightly, despite not having his eyes open since the light was a bit blinding, he could still hear and smell everything going on in the room. Nothing had changed, he hadn't heard any noise, all that happened was a slight breeze came in through the window. But for some reason the room didn't feel right anymore and the Jackal pup struggled to open his eyes.

He was too weak and tired to react in surprise but there was a stranger stood at the foot of his bed. It was a panther in black shirt and trousers with a red tie, emerald eyes stared at the jackal's brown ones without any reaction to Asra's savage right eye.

"Who are you?" Asra whispered, he couldn't talk very loud anymore.

"Interesting" said the panther "you noticed me… very interesting. You can call me Mr Clement, I am a friend of Officer Wilde"

The jackal perked up a bit at this, for some reason he had felt very relaxed despite this mammal appearing out of nowhere, so it was because he was Mr Wilde's friend.

"Are you afraid?" asked Mr Clement "You don't have long"

Asra wondered what he meant for a few moments before he understood. This Mr Clement also knew that he was getting weaker and weaker.

"No, I've been very happy having Mr Wilde and Miss Hopps visit"

The corner of Mr Clement's muzzle rose briefly before he returned to seriousness.

"Do you want to live?"

Asra watched the panther carefully. Did he want to live? He'd come to terms with his fate but… that didn't mean he wanted things to end this way. He had found some mammals who cared about him, he didn't want to disappear so soon. Tears started to pour down his cheeks as Asra just nodded his head as best he could.

Seeing this, despite how difficult it was for the pup to move, Mr Clement's expression softened. He walked over to stand right next to Asra and picked up the Doctor's notes from where they sat on the side. He mumbled under his breath a little as he read the latest diagnosis of the pup while nodding his head slowly. Asra could hear what he was saying despite it being so quiet though he couldn't understand it, lots of medical words and science-y things.

"A good thing I came today rather than tomorrow" said the panther slowly as he turned to look down at Asra "I doubt you are going to complain, but Officer Wilde has asked me to look after you. I have already sorted all of the paperwork with the hospital, you are now in my custody"

Mr Clement flipped his palm over to face the ceiling and something appeared in it. It was a little cylinder about an inch long and half a centimetre in diameter. It was split in two down the middle, one side contained a black powder while the other just seemed to hold water. The panther snapped the little tube like a glow stick and the water mixed with the black powder.

"Swallow this" said Mr Clement softly.

Asra could feel something familiar about the big cat, he assumed it was to do with him knowing Mr Wilde as well, but the pup felt that he could trust him. He opened his mouth and, with a little struggle, swallowed down the capsule. While he did that Mr Clement was carefully removing the various sensors that connected Asra to the machines in the room.

Asra was a little confused to be honest, his hearing could easily pick up the doctors when they stopped to talk outside his room, so he knew that there wasn't anything the hospital could do for him in time. Yet this Mr Clement seemed confident that he wasn't going to die. Asra struggled to sit upright and reached across to pull some of the sensors off his arm himself.

He stopped before he could remove them.

I moved… he thought I… I… I feel a bit stronger

The jackal stopped to look at the panther who smiled slightly at the confusion on the pup's face. Having disconnected Asra from everything Mr Clement reached down and lifted the jackal into his arms. Asra was small even for his age and species, no doubt due to malnutrition over the years, and he was cradled easily in one of the panther's arms.

"Did you have any belongings here?" asked Mr Clement but Asra just shook his head.

Mr Clement nodded and walked out of the room closing the door behind him. Everything seemed to be quite a blur to Asra, whether it was his condition or the capsule Mr Clement gave him, but the hospital corridors started to merge together. He closed his eyes to avoid feeling nauseous and only opened them again when he heard lots of voices going on around him.

They were in the reception and he could hear all the mammals talking normally. Asra blinked, the world wasn't overly loud anymore. He turned his head forwards to see why they were stopped. Several doctors had barricaded Mr Clement from leaving the building, they were demanding to know why he was removing someone from intensive care, a child no less. Mr Clement did not seem particularly impressed with this delay and was rubbing his temples. Noticing Asra moving he glanced down with a small grin.

"Asra, would you mind reaching inside my sleeve" said Mr Clement as he offered his free arm towards the jackal.

Asra reached out, which surprised the doctors in the first place, and slid a paw into the sleeve. Feeling something, he pulled, revealing a sheaf of paper which Mr Clement took from him. The panther then handed the document to the doctors.

"This contains the signatures of every mammal of importance in this hospital up to the director herself" said Mr Clement slowly "it essentially states that this child is now in my care, not yours. Now, I've started to take a liking to the boy so if you don't mind moving aside, I'd prefer it if he didn't die after I went through all this"

The doctors stood there blankly as they read through the document. Some wanted to speak out that removing Asra from the hospital would only cause more harm but their superiors orders weighed heavily on them. Mr Clement strode past them and out of the hospital. Asra flinched in the sudden sunlight when a shadow covered him, he opened his eyes to see Mr Clement holding a paw over his face.

Mr Clement stopped and Asra looked round… and his eyes widened. They were stood beside a sleek black sports car. Asra's eyes ran along the streamlined contours like… well, like a little boy looking at a sports car. He was so engrossed he didn't even notice Mr Clement moving till the door was open and he had put the pup down in the seat.

Moments later the panther climbed in the driver's seat and stretched. Asra looked over curiously, something seemed rather different about Mr Clement but he couldn't put a finger on it. Then he noticed, his body language was completely different. Mr Clement had been very serious and formal, almost stiff, but with a little bit of warmth and humour underneath. Now though, the panther seemed very relaxed, with a playful smile on his face. Even the expression in his eyes made him seem like a different mammal.

"Let's introduce ourselves again" said the panther "My name is Noctis Lacerda, but you can call me Noct, and Nicholas Wilde is my brother"

"But you aren't a fox" said Asra as he stared around the interior of the car in wonder.

"Doesn't matter, still brothers" said Noct as he started the car, he grinned as the engine roared "Mr Clement is the name I use for dealing with uptight business like those doctors"

Asra chuckled slightly, to be honest, he liked this Noct better than the Mr Clement. The whole morning still felt rather like a dream to Asra as the sports car hurtled through Savanna Central towards Downtown. Noct wasn't speeding, didn't want to bother his brother if he got caught, but that didn't stop him using the powerful acceleration of the vehicle to keep as close to the speed limit as possible at all times.

Asra mainly lived in Sahara Square however he had on occasion travelled to the urban jungle that was Savanna Central. So the scenery hadn't been that new to him. Downtown on the other hand, well the Jackal could hardly keep his mouth shut as he stared at the skyscrapers surrounding them. Noct chuckled a little bit at the pup's reactions, he wondered what Asra would think about where he was taking them.

Up ahead the Chrysalis Tower came into view and Noct began to slow down. Asra was a little surprised when suddenly they started to drive downwards. He had been too busy looking up to follow the road. Noct pulled his ride into the tower's underground parking lot. As Mr Clement, part owner of the building, he had his own private parking area where he stopped the car.

Walking round Noct opened the passenger door and lifted Asra back out again. There was a single elevator door right next to his parking spot. This was the same private elevator that connected the lobby of the tower to his penthouse suite, the parking lot was the only other stop. There were only two buttons in the lift despite the three stops but Noct had designed it that way to confuse people… old habits.

He double tapped the 'up' button and the doors slid shut. Asra could feel them moving through the air quickly, like his tummy was doing backflips. From how long this lasted he guessed they must be in one of the skyscrapers he had been so fixated on.

The doors eventually opened again revealing the minimalist corridor where the door to Noct's penthouse was the only other thing apart from the lift they just stepped out of. Noct deftly opened the door one handed and walked inside. He strolled into the living room area and was about to settle Asra down when he heard a gasp.

Looking down he saw Asra staring at the window.

It is quite the view isn't it he thought to himself as he carried the jackal over to the giant bay window.

"But that's… and over there is… is that Tundratown?" Asra stared wide eyed at the view before him as the whole of Zootopia was laid out before him like toys on a rug "Where's the Rainforest District?" well, almost the whole of Zootopia.

"The Rainforest District is behind us" said Noct leaning his free arm on the railing "It's quite a sight isn't it, not many mammals will ever get to see it either"

Noct stayed there a bit longer to let Asra look before he turned and deposited the jackal on one of the many sofas that littered the living area. The panther sat down opposite him and chuckled a bit.

"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to admire the view once you are better" Noct observed the uncomfortable shifting of Asra "you don't seem very convinced that I can save you"

"Well, you aren't a doctor Mr Noct… you aren't a doctor, are you?"

"No, I am not" laughed Noct "however I am far better equipped to help you than any doctor. We are very similar Asra, more than you think. Now I'm going to give you an explanation and I know you may not understand all of it but bear with me"

Noct rubbed his eyes a few times "I really don't want to take a Catalyst, I guess we'll just see what I can manage"

Noct removed his paws from his eyes and sat forwards. When he opened his eyes again Asra shrank back in his chair, savage slit-like pupils gazed at the jackal. However within a few moments they trembled and returned to their normal round shape. Asra stared in shock at the panther before him, partly because of the change in his eyes, but mostly because he hadn't felt any fear when he had seen it.

"When I was young" Noct began slowly "I was exposed to something similar to what you were given. This was not the disgusting pile of trash you were injected with but a genuine stable concoction. So believe me when I say that I sympathise with what you are going through. Savage but sane, I believe some people have called it, it's what the drug is meant to do temporarily. However I, because I was exposed over a very long time, have been permanently affected. From what I can tell, since you are still growing and it was a crazy experiment, something similar has happened. Your senses have been running hay-wire recently haven't they?"

Asra nodded slowly, so it wasn't just Mr Wilde that had made him feel so at home around Mr Noct.

"The drug I gave you is called a Suppressor, it dampens the effects, allows our senses to fall within tolerable levels, you aren't being so overwhelmed now are you" the Jackal nodded again thinking back to how odd the morning had been "the Suppressor can't heal you but it should reduce the strain on your body and give us a few more days breathing room" Noct grinned "I will save you Asra"

Asra took a few deep breaths to calm himself. He wasn't alone. Mr Wilde had saved him, Miss Hopps had shown him not to give up, and Mr Noct knew what he was going through. It suddenly dawned on Asra that he might not die, he could at least have a little hope now, right?

Bzzzz Bzzzz Bzzzzzzzzzzz

Noct reached into a pocket and pulled out his phone, he grinned when he saw the caller.

"Alright Nick" he drawled "what can I do for you this fine day?"

Asra's ears perked up, that was Mr Wilde's name.

"Actually, before you tell me, there's someone you should speak to"

Noct grinned and tossed the phone across to Asra. It landed right in front of his lap and the Jackal hurriedly lifted it to his ear.

"What do you mean there's someone I should speak to?"

Asra grinned back at Noct.

"Hi there Mr Wilde" he said as cheerfully as he could.

"Asra!? You're with Noct? That was fast. You're sounding better than I last saw you"

"Mr Noct gave me a Su-supro- gave me a spresser and now I feel a lot better. We're at his house, it's reeeaaally high in the air, I can probably see your house from here"

"Well look at you, even I haven't been round to Noct's place yet. Listen, could you pass the phone back to Noct, I need to speak to him. Me and Judy will be round to visit as soon as we can okay?"

Asra just sat there nodding happily, Noct had walked over to get the phone, he knew Asra wasn't up to throwing it back to him. Noct took the phone when Asra offered it.

"It's me again… Yeah he'll be fine, trust me… I was going to start the treatment when you called actually... I said don't worry now why were you calling me?... uh huh… uh huh… So Moonlight tomorrow evening to meet Short-stack properly… okay, okay, I won't call her that… much… is that everything? Yes? Good? Right, te videre"

Noct shook his head with a sigh as he ended the call.

"He can be a right worrier sometimes" the panther said glancing down at Asra "don't tell him I said that okay"

Asra laughed a little before he stifled a yawn, to be honest this was the most active he'd been in days and he'd still been awake longer than he usually lasted. But the morning was starting to crash down upon him. Seeing this Noct picked the Jackal up again cradling him in one arm.

"Hang tight just a little longer okay?" said Noct as he walked towards the stairs "you can sleep once we've got things started"

Asra nodded sleepily and wondered what was upstairs. Noct waved his free hand over the bannisters of the stairs one at a time. There was a beep and a whoosh from behind and when Noct turned round Asra saw that the floor at the bottom of the stairs had opened up and the steps kept going down.

This was the way down to the third floor that made up Noct's penthouse. As much as he hated it he was a Lacerda, and he had learnt a lot from that, including how to design a safehouse. The third floor had several rooms however there was no way to see into any of them. The scenery was plain white tile, almost like being back in the hospital. Though there was no indicator as to which room was which, Noct headed for one blank door in particular.

Inside was what appeared to be a laboratory of sorts, Asra woke up a bit to stare at all the interesting machines and gadgets. There was also bed that looked more like a doctor's table at one end of the room which was where Noct deposited Asra.

"Hmm" Noct said to himself as he wandered around the room checking screens and monitors every so often "Never thought I'd need to do something like this, it's not the best setup. Still, it should be fine, we'll just take the steps slowly. First up I think we'll need to clear his system out, properly, not like they obviously tried to do at the hospital. Then we'll move onto acclimatising, it would be better if we could leave things as they are as much as possible. But if not, then I'll just have to make a batch of the original… wow, really never thought I'd need to do something like that"

Asra didn't really know what Noct was talking about and was trying his hardest to stay awake. Finally Noct returned to the Jackal with a glass of water and several tablets.

"For now, take these" said Noct placing them next to Asra "one will help you sleep properly while the others will get rid of the last bits of muck they injected you with. I'll need to take a blood sample, but I'll do that when you are asleep, you won't even notice"

Asra nodded and took the tablets, he barely drank half the water before the tiredness caught up with him. Luckily Noct had expected this and rescued the glass before it was dropped. Asra curled up on the bed and was out like a light within moments. Noct smiled slightly as he turned back to all the equipment that filled the room… he had some tests to run.