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We've broken 2700 views, loads of thanks to all reviews this has got (I'm looking at you ApatheisticDevil), I wasn't really sure what to expect when i started but i'm glad people are enjoying it :)

And yes this is WildeHopps, though it's taking a while, don't worry, Noct and Lunette as a united front is going to be a driving force.

Chapter 17

Lunette was gradually waking up. She was warm and cosy, something was different about this morning, everything just felt perfect. There was a gentle touch running repeatedly down her spine from the back of her head that made her shiver in contentment. She rolled over and wrapped her arms around the mammal lying next to her. Lunette burrowed her nose into the fur of their chest and breathed deeply.

Her mate.

The scent was rich and earthy, like a dark rainforest, and distinctly male. It was just that it didn't smell like any mammal Lunette had ever seen before. Lunette opened her eyes and looked up at Noct, the panther was reclining on the bed with her chin resting on his chest. Noct did not smell like a panther, or any other feline, nor in fact like any other type of animal. It was a one of a kind sort of smell that Lunette had missed terribly.

"Good morning Bruma" purred Noct as he continued to stroke Lunette's back "sleep well?"

"Best night's sleep since you disappeared on me" said Lunette slightly drowsily, Noct's actions were threatening to send her right back to dreamland.

Noct twitched and paused his stroking, Lunette gave a little groan at the lack of attention, before he bundled the wolf up in his arms. Lunette's eyes widened slightly before closing contently as Noct began to lick her cheeks, pausing only to nuzzle her affectionately. Lunette sighed happily, this was something Noct used to do quite often. She was a little unsure about it the first time it happened, it was a more feline act of intimacy, however she soon found herself very much enjoying it. Feeling it again was like a little piece of heaven for Lunette.

Lunette glanced over at the bedside table, there was still twenty minutes till her alarms were supposed to go off, not that she was complaining. The wolf let off a little growl as she began to nuzzle back at Noct.

"You're up early" she murmured while running a paw though his fur.

"I never slept Bruma" said Noct slowly, pausing his licking to look down at her "I slept just over a day ago so I physically can't sleep again till tomorrow at the earliest"

Lunette tensed and her paws grabbed hold of Noct's fur "You always were the early bird up before me" she whispered.

"And I always will be" said Noct gently stroking Lunette's cheek "I've been thinking while you were asleep"

"Hmm?"

"I left Los Antleres to try and protect you, however, since I just can't seem to get away from you, I'll need to come up with something else" said Noct as he booped Lunette on the nose "Also I'm not leaving you to live in a rather run-down place like this, so move in with me"

"Really?" asked Lunette, her tail wagging against the duvet "are you sure? I know this isn't the best place but it's fairly convenient for work, only a ten-minute drive to the precinct"

"Oh I don't think you need to worry about that" said Noct with a grin "I live in Downtown, fairly sure I can see where you work from my window"

Lunette just leaned up and kissed him gently, that was all the answer Noct needed as he started to purr again. The wolf could quite happily have stayed like this, cuddling up against her mate, however time has a nasty habit of running out and Lunette's alarm started to go off. The wolf hurriedly reached out and grabbed it, if she let Noct deal with it he would probably just have smashed it into little bits.

Lunette groaned as she forced herself out of the wonderful warmth and snuggles that was her bed at that moment. She stretched a little before walking for the bathroom, hips swaying enticingly as she glanced over her shoulder.

"Care to join me?" she asked with half lidded eyes.

His response was a throaty rumbling that sent shivers running through Lunette's body.

"Don't tempt me" he said with a smirk "I'm afraid you would definitely be late, just wait till you see the bathroom at my place though"

Noct began to get dressed as he heard the sound of running water. This didn't take very long and he slumped back on the bed again, waiting for Lunette to re-emerge. He breathed deeply, the scent of his mate causing a burst of happiness inside him. He was almost using the scent to reassure himself that this was all real, there was nothing that could compare to his Bruma.

Noct chuckled slightly, he owed Nick big time, both positively and negatively. After all his brother was the one who had joined the dots and managed to reunite him with Lunette. Knowing that all three were cops, Noct had quickly pieced together how last night had been possible. Lunette had obviously followed after him to Zootopia and, of course, ended up working with Nick and Judy.

He had to give it to Nick, the fox had managed to keep the whole thing secret till the last second. Admittedly Noct's guard was down since there was no way he could have expected something like this to happen. No, he really did need to thank Nick and Judy the next time he saw them.

Noct grinned to himself, that wasn't to say that he wasn't going to get sweet, sweet revenge on his brother for tricking him like that. Noct had a feeling that Lunette would be all aboard for teasing the fox and rabbit relentlessly.

At that moment Lunette dashed back out of the bathroom and began to get dressed a little frantically. Noct just stayed out of the way and let her get ready before they departed.

"I could give you a lift in if you want, I think my ride is a tad faster than yours" said Noct with a grin as Lunette locked the door up behind them.

"Thank you but no" said Lunette rolling her eyes "do you know how much fuss you'd cause for me if I arrived at work in a Jaguar Z-type?"

Noct chuckled slightly as he pulled Lunette into his embrace for a kiss. Lunette groaned quietly and pulled back, she really didn't have time for this. Instead she hurriedly rubbed herself all over the fur of Noct's neck revelling in his scent.

"I'll see you later" she called as she ran over to her car and pulled away as quickly as legally possible.

Noct just stood there smiling as he watched her car disappear around a corner. He lifted a paw and gently touched his neck before bringing it to his nose. Lunette smelled of wolf, but this was contested with some more gentle scents that Noct could only describe as 'icy streams' and 'fresh snow'. He sniffed again and smiled, there was a faint aroma of orchids too, it seemed she still used the same brand of shampoo.

The panther shook his head, he didn't have time to stand there all day in a daze. He pulled out his keys and climbed into his sports car.

Asra should be far enough into the stable phase for me to get a good estimate of how well he is taking to the treatment thought Noct slowly growing more serious as he drove off.

Lunette arrived at the precinct the same time she always did. She may have seemed like she was late and in a rush but she arrived before Nick and Judy did. Lunette knew that sometimes she could misjudge her timings getting ready so simply planned her whole morning to get in to work extra early.

There were always other people around at the precinct though so it wasn't like she was entering an empty building. Looking up Lunette caught sight of Chief Bogo walking along one of the upper floors briefly. And of course Benjamin Clawhauser was always present on the front desk.

The chubby cheetah perked up when her saw Lunette walk in, he hadn't had anyone to talk to yet, and it was too early for there to be any criminals for him to extol the virtues of Gazelle to.

"Morning Lunette" cried Clawhauser waving cheerfully as the wolf approached "How was your weekend?"

"It was… wonderful" said Lunette smiling happily as her tail wagged slightly.

The cheetah sat up in his chair a little straighter and narrowed his eyes. He looked Lunette up and down, taking in her body language. He sniffed slightly and his eyes widened, a familiar twinkle appearing in them. Never having been on the receiving end of this before Lunette found herself feeling a little unnerved.

"O M Goodness" said Clawhauser raising his paws to his mouth "Who is he? Tell me everything!"

Lunette's mouth hung open slightly as she froze momentarily.

"Wha- How?" Lunette shook her head slightly "I said three words Benjy, how did you get that?"

"Well you haven't denied it" said Clawhauser as Lunette rolled her eyes "I've never seen you this happy, you are practically glowing this morning, and most importantly I can smell him on you. I may not be a canine, my nose isn't much use for most things, but there is no one better in the city than me at telling if my fellow officers smell like another mammal"

Lunette sighed, she'd expected the other wolves to pick up on Noct's mark, just not Clawhauser and not so early.

"I told you I was taken didn't I" said Lunette rather exasperatedly "it's just that my mate was missing for a while. It turns out he was here in Zootopia and knew Nick of all people. Judy and Nick pulled a bit of a blind date sort of thing and got us together in the same room again…" she paused and smiled as she remembered last night "and everything is wonderful"

Clawhauser was clapping his hands and seemed so excited that he had gone beyond the need to squeal. Lunette could only smile and wait for him to calm down again, at least this time her ears had been spared.

"So where did they take you?" he asked with a spare breath.

"We went to Moonlight out near Hill Street, Judy told me it was going to be us and Nick so we could get to know each other"

"Ooo, I've heard about that place, it's supposed to be fantastic, what was it like?"

"It was amazing" grinned Lunette "the décor is beautiful and I think Nick and my mate know the owner, I don't know much else since I was rather preoccupied with more important matters. Nick and Judy were kind enough to give us some privacy"

"Oh?" the cheetah grinned "so they left you two alone together, which means by process of elimination, they were alone together too"

Lunette just grinned back at the cheetah, suddenly a lightbulb flashed in Lunette's mind.

"Clawhauser? I know this is Zootopia and not Los Antleres buuut… and you seem to be the one who would know… I don't suppose there are any pools going on?"

"Why Officer Furle" said Clawhauser looking offended "I don't know what you are talking about, betting has no place in the police station" he glanced around before continuing in a whisper "how else do you think I keep sane working the front desk, there's a couple going on at the moment but I think there's one you'll be particularly interested in… I call it the Wilde-Hopps pool"

Lunette's eyes widened as her grin grew a little toothier.

"Put me down for twenty for within the week"

Almost as if they knew they were being talked about, Nick and Judy chose this moment to walk into the precinct just as Clawhauser finished updating his pool with Lunette. Judy and Nick walked up to the desk.

"Hey Lunette, hey Benjy" greeted Judy full of her usual energy.

Nick gave his customary nod before he frowned slightly and drew a scent. He looked over at Lunette and an enormous smirk appeared on his face. The fox nudged Judy who looked up and saw the expression on his face. She was a little confused until she saw that the smirk was aimed at Lunette. A very similar grin appeared on the doe's face as Nick and Judy looked at Lunette.

"So, Nix, how was your evening?" asked Nick even though he clearly knew exactly how her evening had gone.

For once Clawhauser was on Judy's side and couldn't resist turning his twinkling gaze on the wolf as well. Lunette couldn't help it, she started to blush, adding a light pink tinge to her white fur.

Maybe I won't tease Judy quite so much Lunette thought to herself now that she was on the receiving end.

Lunette was worried this was going to continue till roll call however Nick seemed to have another idea. He shepherded Judy and Lunette towards the bull pen with an evil grin on his face. The only reassuring thing for the females was that whatever he was plotting clearly wasn't aimed at them. They had headed in earlier than usual, normally talking to Clawhauser would last longer, so the room was fairly empty as they entered.

Nick gestured for Lunette to follow when she made to take an empty chair near the back of the room. When they reached the front they discovered that Officer Mchorn was already there however he was sat a chair across than he normally did.

"Partners and colleagues who actively work together normally sit near each other in roll call" said Judy explaining where the free seat for Lunette came from.

Judy and Lunette watched Nick who was bouncing slightly in his seat next to the grey doe, even Mchorn was interested in what had the fox so excited. The rumble of footsteps could eventually be heard as the majority of the other officers arrived and headed for the bull pen.

Officers Fangmeyer and Delgato arrived first talking about the latest football scores, it was Tundratown vs Sahara Square. Next came Gizzoli, Snarlov and Francine Pennington, still not what Nick had been waiting for. Then Officers Wolfard and Richmond, two of the timber wolves on the force walked in.

Nick could barely contain himself as he watched them, Judy, Lunette and Mchorn all followed his gaze in confusion.

"Wait for it" said Nick quietly as the wolves walked further into the room "Wait for it" he could see their noses twitching "and three, two, one…"

Right as Nick finished talking, both of the wolves froze for a second before their ears dropped completely flat. Nick was banging his fist on the table as he struggled to contain his laughter. Judy and Mchorn glanced at each other in confusion, neither of them quite got what was so funny. Judy looked across to see Lunette looking rather embarrassed.

"Okay, what was all that Nick?" asked Judy quietly.

"That my dear Carrots" said Nick wiping a tear from his eye and trying not to laugh again "was the exact moment the other wolves all found out that my brother got there first"

Next to Nick, Lunette sank even further into her chair as if trying to disappear. Judy punched Nick in the arm but even that couldn't stop the waves of chuckles that wracked the fox. He had mostly gotten himself back under control by the time Chief Bogo arrived.

The cape buffalo took one look at Nick's face that was occasionally grinning uncontrollably and grimaced. He had known that the calm, professional Nick wouldn't last and decided to ignore the fox as much as possible.

Assignments weren't anything out of the usual, a few robberies and patrol for everyone else. Now that Nick was back on active duty again Chief Bogo could start the plan he had originally had for the fox, rabbit and wolf. Since Lunette was new to the city he had planned to leave the three of them on patrol for a period of time while rotating the districts that they covered. This way Lunette would get a crash course in Zootopian policing, while Los Antleres also had an intense training regime it did not have the advanced climate control Zootopia had, so while Officer Furle was fully trained she would at least need to experience all of Zootopia's environments for herself.

"Chief Bogo, sir"

The cape buffalo looked up, he had finished handing out the assignments and was packing away, Judy, Nick and Lunette had hung around after all their fellow officers had gone.

"What is it Hopps?" asked Bogo gruffly.

"Before the weekend, myself and Officer Furle ran into Duke Weaselton"

"And what was he up to this time?" sighed Chief Bogo.

"Running for his life, sir" one of Chief Bogo's eyebrows raised about 1cm, a clear sign he was deeply surprised "he was what led to the three arrests we made on Friday. I told the weasel to report to the precinct today for a statement or I'd have Nick track him across the city."

"Alright" nodded the buffalo after a moment's thought "you have two hours to wait for him, if he doesn't show then go find him, I trust Wilde can manage that" the fox gave a small bow as he smirked, Bogo snorted "Focus on this for today, those three are still in holding but they are refusing to talk even after being here all weekend, they are clearly from outside the city and I don't like it when criminals intrude on my city, we have enough of them to worry about anyway without adding more"

Judy gave a crisp salute and led the other two out of the bull pen. Chief Bogo put his paperwork down and massaged his temples, Wilde hadn't been a problem however the buffalo could tell that he had returned to his normal snarky self. That and the Chief of Police could feel something brewing in the city. Everything together, well, it just meant that his headaches were coming back.

They couldn't stay in the office since they wouldn't spot Duke if he were to arrive. So the main entrance hall seemed the best bet. Nick, Judy and Lunette decided that it would be for the best if they didn't hang around near the dispatcher's desk chatting with Benjy. The cheetah still had a job to do and they didn't want to distract him too much, Judy thought back to how long it had taken to get through to Clawhauser back when she and Nick were being chased by a savage Mr Manchas.

So instead the three of them chose to sit at one side of the hall on some of the chairs that lined the walls. Nick stretched out comfortably, since any species could be coming to the precinct the chairs were designed to accommodate mammals of all sizes, which meant the fox had plenty of room.

Judy glanced at him quickly, wishing she could jump up and share the seat, instead she settled with sitting in the chair next to him. They were working and she had always tried to limit any slightly more affectionate behaviour to when they were off duty.

Lunette sat on the other side of Judy and the three of them had a good view over the lobby, if Weaselton turned up they'd be the first to know.

Nick had put on his shades and could have been taking a nap for all Judy could tell. Lunette seemed lost in her thoughts which just left Judy on her own in silence. This was okay for a few minutes but Judy was a very active mammal, she soon began to wish there was something to do to pass the time, even some paperwork would be preferable. Unfortunately, since not much had occurred during her time working without Nick, Judy was already on top of all their reports.

For once she thought sadly I regret being so efficient

"Alright" said Nick leaning against the side of his chair and taking off his sunglasses "I can tell Carrots is about to go mad, so how's things with you and Noct, Nix?"

Judy's ears perked up at this, of course Nick would notice her distress, he always did.

"We're good" said Lunette softly "not saying that everything wasn't a bit of a shock yesterday, but, we just slid back into how we used to be almost immediately" a bit of moisture appeared in the wolf's eyes as Lunette reached over the side of her chair and wrapped her arms around Judy "Thank you" she whispered "really, truly thank you. You don't know how much it means to me to have him back again"

Judy just smiled and gently patted Lunette on the shoulder.

"Well, I think my nose can tell how much it means to you" said Nick with a grin as Lunette let go of Judy and buried her face in her tail "OW"

Judy punched the fox in the arm again while glaring at him.

"Stop embarrassing her" said Judy sternly "And what has been up with you today? I haven't found much of it funny"

"Well" began Nick as he rubbed his sore arm "Since she is my brother's mate that essentially makes her my sister-in-law according to the old ways, so I reckon I'm allowed to tease a bit. And on the other note… I guess it's a canine thing, a lot of our culture is based around scent, even more so than with most other mammals. I can't really explain it but Wolfard and Richmond's reaction earlier was the funniest thing I've seen in weeks"

"Funnier than Finnick dressed up as a Junior Ranger Scout?" asked Judy innocently.

"Probably not" pondered Nick as he scratched his chin "that sounds absolutely hilarious" he paused slightly and glanced at Judy still looking around innocently, though now she was holding her phone "he didn't… did he?"

"Lunette can back me up on this one" grinned Judy evilly as she tapped her phone "and I have photographic evidence"

"Gimme!" said Nick as he reached out to grab Judy's phone but she held it just out of reach, after a few minutes of futile struggling Nick gave up for now "Alright, what'll it cost me?"

"Hmm" Judy rubbed her chin with the phone "You're buying lunch for the week and I get the choice of what we watch on Movie Night"

Nick winced slightly, well it had been brought up so it was time to tell her, he just wasn't sure how she'd take it.

"I can do the lunches" said Nick slowly while carefully watching Judy "but I'm afraid not on the movie front. In fact, we're gonna have to take a little break from it this week"

Just like he'd expected, Judy's ears instantly flopped down her back to match the shock in her eyes. Wednesday Movie Night was a sacred event that they hadn't missed once and Nick hated to be the reason for the first time.

"Why?" asked Judy quietly.

"My apartment is not entirely liveable right now, and certainly won't be on Wednesday" said Nick trying to keep his face calm and serious.

"Oh, come on Nick" pouted Judy "I know your place isn't the tidiest but you do a pretty good job with it"

"Actually, I'm more concerned about all the building work going on"

Nick waited a moment for his words to sink in and suddenly Judy was back to her usual cheerful self.

"You bought the apartment!" she shouted joyfully.

"Yup" grinned Nick "I am now a property owner, though I can't actually stay there for now with all the work, I'm crashing with Finnick for a few days"

"In his van? You could have asked me you know"

"I do know Carrots" sighed Nick a little exasperated "However you barely fit in your little cupboard of an apartment let alone a big bad fox" he raised a paw as Judy was about to say something else "I know I've stayed over before, but that was a one-night thing and I didn't need to bring enough stuff to last me a week"

Judy pulled her knees up and started sulking slightly, she couldn't fault Nick's logic and that was what annoyed her.

"Something up Nix?" asked Nick looking past Judy "your tail twitched, don't tell me you live in a shoebox apartment too?"

Judy glared at Nick once, she knew he was making conversation to cheer her up, before turning to look at Lunette interestedly.

"I'm not sure" said Lunette slowly wondering how to go about this.

"Fairly simple test Nix, does it have more than one room?"

"I don't know" Lunette chuckled slightly at the confused looks on her colleagues faces "my current place is not bad, bedroom, lounge, kitchenette, bathroom, it's got pretty much all I need. It's just that… well, I'm going to move in with Noct, but he says he wants it to be a surprise so I haven't seen where he lives yet"

Judy's face lit up as she bounced in her seat while clapping her hands.

"That's wonderful" she said happy for the wolf "when are you moving? Do you need any help?"

"Tomorrow evening, Noct said he'll find a van or something to carry everything, and it's fine, I'm sure we can handle everything"

"Nah, don't worry about that Nix" said Nick interestedly "We'll swing round and give you a hand, besides, you're not the only one who wants to see Noct's new place"

Judy and Lunette started to chat about the move, among other things, Nick leant back in his chair and just let them get on with it. Looking up at the big clock that adorned one of the walls, Nick saw that it had been about twenty-five minutes. No sign of Weaselton but it was early days, and if he didn't show then they'd just have to go to him.

To be honest Nick wasn't holding out for the weasel's appearance. As someone on the wrong side of the law in the past, Nick could understand exactly how Duke must be feeling about walking right into police headquarters, Precinct 1. The fox was already prepared to have to go find Weaselton out in the city but he didn't hold it against the small-time crook, he wasn't sure if he would have had the courage to walk into the precinct in the past, even if he hadn't done anything wrong.

Nick frowned as he followed this line of thought, he was almost certain Duke Weaselton wouldn't show up, so he may as well get a bit of a headstart. Nick pulled out his phone and sent a text to his brother, it wasn't for Noct, Nick just needed the panther to pass the message on to someone else.

Nick wanted Weaselton's phone number, and there was only one mammal he knew that could find it quickly, it was just that he hadn't spoken to Bakari since Noct disappeared. Thankfully this didn't seem to be a problem as Noct texted a phone number back a few minutes later. He pulled up the new number and started to send a message.

Judy glanced over as Nick stood up, he'd been busy on his phone for quite a while now.

"Come on Carrots, let's get moving" said Nick with as stretch, Judy found her eyes following his tail as it twitched to and fro.

"Go? Go where?" asked Judy but she stood up all the same, confused Lunette joined her.

"Weaselton was never going to come here Fluff"

"Why? He hasn't done anything wrong?"

"Doesn't matter" said Nick shaking his head "someone would notice, and then he'd be branded a snitch, and believe me that could be the end of the line for him. Anywho, I've set us up a meeting with him in a more out of the way location"

"How'd you manage that?" asked Lunette curiously as they headed for the door.

"Oh it's simple" Nick smirked as they walked outside "I know everyone" Nick glanced down at Judy walking next to him "So how'd I do? Think this warrants letting me see that picture yet?"

Judy tapped her chin a few times "I'll think about it" she said before skipping off ahead of them towards the car.

Nick chuckled, his eyes following Judy's every movement without him noticing.

Noct had snorted when he'd gotten Nick's message, he knew that even if the fox had gone legit, Nick was still Nick. Noct had been expecting requests for help with police work, just not quite so soon. Luckily, since he was busy, it was something for Bakari to handle. Noct hadn't mentioned Nick, the anti-social Caracal had a bit of a love-hate friendship with the fox so Noct figured everything would go quicker if he just left Nick out of the equation.

Even though it was something rather trivial for her, Bakari had been more than happy to dredge up Duke Weaselton's current mobile number. For her this was just the start, Broken Clockwork's return was starting to spread amongst those who remembered, pretty soon Noct would start getting requests once more. Requests that would surely need Bakari's skills and would stop her getting bored.

Noct passed the information back to Nick. He smiled slightly when his brother said that he and Judy would come help Lunette move. Noct didn't question how Nick knew, in fact he always worked on the assumption that Nick would find things out sooner rather than later. Noct knew that Nick wanted to come see where he lived, partly for the panther but also because Judy and Nick had said they would come visit Asra.

Asra.

Noct frowned and looked across the room he was in to look at the jackal pup still lying unconscious in his pod. The panther leant back in his chair with a sigh as he tossed the clipboard of notes he was reading to the side. The treatment had not taken particularly well, a small part of Noct had expected that to happen, the damage left behind by the drug given to Asra was just too extensive. Not even the multiple layers of treatment Noct had prepared was enough to stabilise the boy's body.

There was only one option left, something Noct had prepared for but really did not want to subject Asra to. Noct lowered his gaze to the work surface in front of him and looked at the plastic packet lying there with a very complicated expression on his face. It was the same as all the other packets that Noct had connected to the IV stand. The only difference was what it contained.

The packet was filled with bright crimson fluid, from a glance it almost looked like fresh blood, though Noct knew it certainly wasn't. Though to be honest, after everything he was subjected to in his childhood, his own blood may be more similar to the fluid in that packet than he liked. If you were to look closely you could see that the deep, bloody red liquid had a dull shimmer to it. Not shiny but it provided a certain contrast to the solid block of colour. It also allowed you to make out movement in the fluid, the liquid was actually roiling within the packet, giving the impression that it was volatile or high temperature.

It certainly wasn't, this was the complete serum that Noct was administered everyday till he was sixteen, it was a completely stable mixture unlike the stuff Asra was subjected to. While the most dangerous research of the Lacerda family would have been destroyed when they were wiped out, this didn't mean the data was lost completely. The family research was an important facet of Noct's education, and he literally could not forget it if he tried. Mixing up a batch of the completed drug was simple providing he had the resources and equipment required… which he did.

Noct knew there was no other way to save Asra but a little bit of him was still hesitating. He'd done the maths, with Asra's condition he should only require a single day's worth of the concoction. After that, the boy's body would have been strengthened enough to eliminate any negative effects of the drug, and the positive effects would only get stronger. The only problem was that, and Noct knew from experience, the drug was extremely painful to take.

Even in his sleep Asra would not be able to escape the pain and there was nothing Noct could prepare to ease it for him. It had taken the panther nearly nine years before his training and the drugs had dulled his sense of pain. Asra was only going to be exposed to it for 24 hours but that would be a day's worth of agony.

The problem was that, no matter how much Noct did not want anyone else to experience what he went through, he knew there really was no other choice. The packet seemed to stare back tauntingly at the panther.

Noct stood with a growl and swiped it from the work surface, waiting wasn't helping anyone, the sooner Asra got through this the better. He slowly walked over to the pod where Asra lay, the IV drip was empty, as it had been for nearly a day since Asra reached a stable period in the last treatment.

Noct's paw trembled as he held out the packet and connected it to the drip stand, memories of the pain flashed through his mind. Slowly the shimmering blood-like fluid slid down the tube and into Asra. Noct pulled a chair up and sat watching the jackal and the screen attached to the pod. Barely ten seconds in and Asra began to whimper in his sleep. Then he began to toss and turn, seeing this Noct frowned and hurriedly reached for a series of clasps within the pod. The panther was more than strong enough to hold Asra down so that he could secure the jackal in place. Noct sat back in his chair and took a deep breath. Asra was still unconscious however his face was twisted in pain.

Then the screams started. Noct stared fixedly at the computer screen, focussing on Asra's vitals, as his claws tore long grooves in the arms of his chair.